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Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez.   Source: MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / Getty

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, the widow of late football player Aaron Hernandez, is being accused of misappropriating her daughter’s money from her trust fund. Jenkins-Hernandez submitted a $10,697 bill for their daughter Avielle Hernandez’s dance lessons to the trust fund’s court appointed trustee.

According to the Boston Globe, the trustee, attorney David Schwartz, denied this request. In legal documents, Schwartz said that Jenkins-Hernandez is already receiving $150,000 a year or more from Hernandez’s NFL pension and Social Security. He questioned why she would need more.

“Large amounts of money are spent under each category of the Accountings, with little clear identification of how these disbursements benefit Avielle,” legal documents read according to People. “The Trustee understands that providing for Avielle includes expenses related to her household, but the expenditures from her late father’s NFL pension and Social Security benefits merit investigation for their reasonableness, if not correctness.”

Schwartz took a closer look into how Jenkins-Hernandez has been spending the monies she’s been receiving. The transactions included

  • $36,858 on clothing.
  • $39,347 on household items.
  • $12,000 spent at HomeGoods.
  • $29,650 in ATM withdrawals; $13,778 in bank charges including overdraft fees.
  • $25,577 shopping online.
  • $11,792 for things like gym membership fees and trips to the nail and hair salon.

He also raised concern about a $39,655 charge on education, especially the $3,720 payout to Bay Path University. Avielle Hernandez is only 10-years-old. Plus, her education expenses are paid for straight from her trust, Schwartz said.

Aaron Hernandez died by suicide in 2017 after being convicted of killing Odin Lloyd, who dated Jenkins-Hernandez’s sister.

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez And David Schwartz Will Hash It Out In Court

After Schwartz denied her request, she asked a Bristol County probate judge to remove him as the trustee. Schwartz has requested that Jenkins-Hernandez be removed as Avielle’s conservator. Now, they are in a court battle over who should oversee this trust fund.

Attorney Robert O’Regan, who represents Schwartz, said an investigation is very necessary due to it not being clear how Jenkins-Hernandez’s spending benefits their daughter.

“There is reason to question whether the expenditures were for Avielle’s benefit,” O’Regan told the Boston Globe. “To be fair, this little girl should have a decent life with what her father left for her. No one would complain if there were reasonable expenses. We’re talking about over the top or otherwise unrelated expenses to Avielle.”

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Said She Only Uses The Trust Fund To Provide For Their Daughter

Jenkins-Hernandez denies using the funds for anything outside of her daughter’s needs.

“Since Aaron’s death, my sole focus has been on raising and providing as stable a life for my children as possible,” she wrote told the Globe. “All monies I have spent have been with this singular focus in mind, and this will continue to be my focus going forward.”

O’Regan begs to differ and questions her ability to serve as her daughter’s conservator.

“I believe that (Jenkins-Hernandez) has been co-mingling the child’s funds with her own,” he said in a court filing. ”I believe that Ms. Jenkins-Hernandez’s ongoing conflict, her almost five-year-long record of excessive expenditures, continuous violation of this court’s decree…and her failure to file an inventory and up-to-date accounts all indicate that despite what might be her best intentions, Ms. Jenkins-Hernandez is not effectively performing her duties as conservator.”

Avielle Hernandez’s trust fund contains around $700,000.

 

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