Dennis “DJ” Hernandez (WFSB).
The sibling of the deceased football icon Aaron Hernandez, who took his own life while incarcerated for a murder conviction, has received his punishment for making threats to carry out a shooting at two colleges.
At the age of 38, Dennis “DJ” Hernandez was given a sentence equivalent to about 18 months in prison, which accounted for time he had already spent in custody. Additionally, he was placed under supervision for three years for the offense of issuing threats across state lines, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Throughout his supervised release period, Hernandez is mandated to undergo ongoing treatment for mental health and substance abuse. Moreover, his electronic gadgets will be subject to monitoring by the U.S. Probation Office, and he is barred from entering the University of Connecticut and other specified locations included in his threats. In December 2024, he admitted guilt to charges of transmitting threatening messages via interstate communications.
Hernandez was planning to attack both UConn and Brown University, according to a case report filed by the Bristol Police Department.
“Will I kill? Absolutely,” Hernandez wrote on social media on July 19, 2023, according to the report. “I’ve warned my enemies so pay up front.”
That social media post was among a string of alarming comments Hernandez made to a woman he had been dating, according to the report.
According to the woman, who is not identified by name by law enforcement, Hernandez “had been rambling […] about people owing him money,” the report says. She reportedly told police that instead of appearing for a July 7, 2023, court date related to a different case, he went to UConn and Brown.
The woman “said that Dennis went into a number of classrooms and buildings at UConn,” the report says. “She went on to tell me that as he was rambling about that incident, Dennis said that ‘he has a bullet for everyone, that he loves me […] but even that you’re [redacted]s not safe.””
The woman said she did not feel threatened specifically, but that she was concerned about that comment and believed Hernandez was having a mental health crisis.
The law enforcement official who wrote the report noted that based on the texts from Hernandez, “it became readily apparent that Dennis was gravely disabled and a danger to society.”
Police were tipped off by a woman identified in the document only as “victim.” She told police that Hernandez is “extremely sick and that his mental health is continuing to deteriorate,” the report says.
“Victim also informed me that Dennis traveled to Brown University and UCONN to ‘map the schools out,’ the report says. “Victim surmised that he did this because he was planning to do a ‘school shooting.’”
In his July 19, 2023, social media posts, Hernandez said that the victim deserves to die and that he is coming for her family, the Bristol Police report says.
Hernandez also sent threatening text messages to the victim. In one message, he was reportedly “rambling about UCONN.”
UConn program is going to pay unless I have a package deal and I get my estate and every single thing I have worked for. The coaches and university officials want to be selfish and selective about s—, well I am too. Very. They are going to get surprised. Love you. I would recommend remaining away from there because when I go I’m taking down everything And don’t give a f— who gets caught in the cross fire. I’ve died for wears [sic] now and now it’s other peoples turn. I’m prepared to give my life So if I don’t get to see you on the outside know I love you always Not all shootings are bad I’m realizing. Some are necessary for change to happen.
Police eventually tracked Hernandez down at a house that same day, forming a perimeter around the residence because Hernandez has a “history of running from police on foot.”
He did not run that time.
Instead, according to the report, Hernandez eventually walked out of the residence — after previously telling officers that he was “armed” and that if police approached, “he would kill us all” — and began to advance on police, his “hands outstretched to his side.”
“He began yelling shoot me, and disregarded the numerous police commands,” the report said. He was eventually taken down by a taser.
After Hernandez was taken into custody and was receiving treatment in an area hospital, “he continued to make threats,” the report said.
“He stated that he was planning to still kill [redacted] along with anyone who profited off of his brother Aaron,” the report said. “Additionally, Dennis mentioned specifically ESPN, but not any people.”
This was the fourth time Hernandez was arrested in 2023. He was first arrested in May of that year after leading police on a pursuit, and then for a second time days later when he threw a bag with a brick and handwritten note at the ESPN campus in Bristol. He was arrested after missing a court date in that case — presumably to go to the UConn and Brown campuses, according to the affidavit.
Aaron Hernandez, once a tight end for the New England Patriots, was convicted of the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. He was acquitted in 2017 of the murders of Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu, who died in a drive-by shooting. As Law&Crime previously reported, his conviction was vacated because he died while his case was being appealed.
