Sumith Prasad
Aaron Hernandez and his mother, Terri Hernandez, have a tumultuous relationship in FX’s crime drama series ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez.’ The football player fails to tolerate her extramarital affair with Jeff Cummings, the husband of his cousin, Tanya. He learns about the affair after the death of his father, Dennis Hernandez, which adds to his sorrow. The mother and son grow apart after he joins the University of Florida. In reality, Aaron and Terri’s relationship was turbulent, as the series depicts. Her life choices were not agreeable to him. However, he came to terms with those decisions before his death.
Terri Hernandez Married Jeff Cummings After His Divorce From His Wife
After Dennis Hernandez’s death, Terri Hernandez’s life was turned around. Her extramarital affair with Jeff Cummings, the partner of her husband’s niece, Tanya, marked the beginning of Aaron Hernandez’s separation from her. After learning about the affair, she was confronted by her partner’s wife, who reportedly slapped her while she was watching her son, DJ Hernandez, play football for the University of Connecticut. Cummings then moved to Aaron’s house, and when he was divorced from Tanya, he married Terri, specifically on January 16, 2009, in Las Vegas. The marriage was tumultuous for her. “We responded to that address on more than one occasion,” Detective Lt. Kevin Morrell of the Bristol Police Department told Rolling Stone.
In June 2010, Cummings attacked Terri with a knife. When the police officers arrived, they found her in a neighbor’s house with multiple wounds. She clarified that she got into an argument with her husband because of his drinking, only for her to end up having a three-and-a-half-inch wound on her right cheek, along with injuries on her left wrist and right shoulder. The police report about the incident states that he held the knife over her throat and that she was scared for her life. “She [Terri] told me she was scared and did not want [Cummings] back in her house. She told me she thinks he will be even more upset since she called the police,” Police Officer Timothy Russell wrote in his report.
Cummings was serving a two-year sentence for assault when Terri was granted divorce from him. His sentence also included a probation period with a condition that read, “No threats or assaults to victim, Terri Hernandez.” After he was released from prison in 2012, the divorced couple reunited. While all these developments were happening in her life, she remained estranged from her son, Aaron, who was playing football in the NFL.
Terri Hernandez Apologized to the Mother of Her Son’s Victim
In June 2013, Aaron Hernandez was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. When Terri learned about it, she believed her son was innocent. “All I can say is that he will be cleared of all these charges in the end. Just let it play out until the end,” she told The Bristol Press. When the court proceedings progressed, she attended the same with Jeff Cummings. She had also reportedly testified before a grand jury concerning the case. At the time, she was working at the South Side School in Bristol, Connecticut, as the secretary to the principal.
A few months after Aaron’s arrest, Terri’s brother, Robert Valentine, died in a crash while he was driving a moped without a helmet. “My brother’s dead, and my son’s in jail,” she told the New York Daily News at the time. In April 2015, Aaron was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering Odin Lloyd. “I’m doing fine. This has been going on for two years now — and the wait was the worst,” she told the Boston Herald about her state after the verdict. During the murder trial, she formed a bond with Ursula Ward, Lloyd’s mother. “As mother to mother, I’m very sorry. I don’t know what happened, but I’m very sorry for all this,” she told Ward, as per the Boston Herald.
Terri and Aaron Hernandez Had a Turbulent Relationship Even After They Reconnected
After his conviction, Aaron Hernandez called Terri several times from his prison, the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, in Lancaster, Massachusetts. During this period, he reconnected with his mother after coming to terms with her relationship with Jeff Cummings. “It used to ruin my life. But the only thing is, like, people do crazy things for love, and I understand. So, like, I can’t judge her because love makes you do stupid things,” he told a friend from prison, as per one of his publicized prison calls. However, it does not mean that their relationship was outrightly pleasant. The convicted murderer blamed his mother for the state he ended up in.
“I was the happiest little kid in the world, and you f—ed me up. You did. I had nobody. What’d you think I was going to do? Become a perfect angel?” Aaron told Terri during a call. At times, these conversations were extremely harsh. “There [are] so many things I would love to talk to you about so you can know me as a person. But I could never tell you. And you’re gonna die without even knowing your son,” he added to her in another call. He also accused her of not getting him his medication to treat his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder while he was in school.
According to DJ Hernandez, Aaron’s brother, the latter told Terri that he was gay or bisexual during one of these conversations they had while he was in prison. “[…] they [Aaron and Terri] have this conversation, and they’re both flooded with tears across from each other, and here the weight of what’s on my brother is being expressed, and for a mother to be looking at it across from the scratched glass in the zone and seeing your son, [whom] you would’ve never anticipated him ever being in this situation,” DJ said while appearing on Syndication’s ‘The Dr. Oz Show.’
Terri Hernandez Leads a Private Life With Her Family Today
In April 2017, Aaron Hernandez killed himself in his prison cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. Since then, Terri Hernandez has chosen to stay away from the spotlight. When The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team was investigating the late footballer’s life for the source material of ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,’ Terri declined to be interviewed. Since Aaron’s death, she has continued sharing her life with Jeff Cummings, her partner, and her son, DJ Hernandez. She also spends her time with DJ’s children. From what we can tell, she is adored by her grandchildren. It also looks like her relationship with Cummings is better than ever.
Terri and Cummings live in Farmington, Connecticut. The couple cherishes their togetherness by spending time at the beach or going kayaking. They celebrate their relationship by wearing matching outfits, surrounded by friends and family. She also expressed that she felt “blessed” to be with him. Her vacation plans used to include yearly visits to East Sandwich in Massachusetts with her sister. Terri is an advocate for several charities. Around her birthdays, she requests her friends and followers to donate to various organizations such as Mental Health USA, Mental Health Foundation, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
After a tumultuous period filled with relationship struggles, separations, and deaths, Terri has seemingly found peace and happiness again. Her current life is filled with moments of joy, which she shares with her loved ones. While Aaron’s life remains in the limelight even after his death, it seems Terri does not want the same since she has moved on from the attention she once received.
Read More: Terri Hernandez: Where is Aaron Hernandez’s Mom Now?
