Associate of ex-NFL player Aaron Hernandez indicted in shooting death
An associate of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been indicted as an accessory after the fact in the alleged murder with which Hernandez has been charged.
Carlos Ortiz, 27, of Bristol, Conn., was indicted Friday by a Massachusetts grand jury in connection with the June 17 killing of Odin Lloyd, CNN.com reports.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty earlier this month to first-degree murder in the execution-style shooting death of Lloyd.
Ortiz will enter a not guilty plea to the accessory charge, his lawyer, John Connors, said.
Prosecutors say Ortiz originally told them that Hernandez and another co-defendant, Ernest Wallace, got out of a car with Lloyd at a deserted industrial park shortly before Lloyd was allegedly murdered. But Ortiz now says that Hernandez and Lloyd got out of the car alone.
Connors said it is not unusual for a witness in a case like this to change his story.
“He’s a young guy who got caught up in a situation, and when all this came about, he was frightened and confused, as you can imagine anyone would be,” he said of Ortiz.
