All About Aaron Hernandez's Daughter Avielle Janelle Hernandez

Jim Rogash/Getty ; Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

For the late Aaron Hernandez, becoming a father to his daughter, Avielle Janelle Hernandez, 10, completely shifted his perspective.

"One thing I know is that it definitely changed my life," the former New England Patriot told the media shortly after Avielle was born on Nov. 6, 2012. He shared Avielle with his fiancée.

However, seven months after Avielle's birth, Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder for the death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd and immediately dropped by the Patriots. By April 2015, the young father was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Two years later, when Avielle was just 4 years old, Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell — just days after being acquitted on additional murder charges.

"Aaron had demons; we all know that. But he really was devoted to his daughter. Boy, did he love her," said a former teammate of Hernandez's from the University of Florida in 2018.

Now 10 years old, Avielle is being raised by her mother and Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez.

Here's everything to know about the late NFL player's only child, Avielle Janelle Hernandez.

She shares a birthday with Hernandez

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

Hernandez and his fiancée Jenkins-Hernandez welcomed their only child together on Nov. 6, 2012 — which also happened to be Hernandez's 23rd birthday. The former Patriots tight end called Avielle's arrival "the best birthday gift," according to NBC Sports.

"It's crazy … having a daughter on your birthday. Especially daddy's little girl," Hernandez later told reporters. "It's an honor. I couldn't ask for my life to be better at this point. My life is pretty good. Thank God for that. It's a blessing. I still feel blessed daily."

Hernandez also spoke about how becoming a father was a "life changer" — and for the better.

"I'm going to look at things differently," Hernandez said. "I may be young and wild, but I'm not. I'm engaged now. I have a baby so it's just gonna make me think of life a lot differently, and doing things the right way because now another one's looking up to me. I just can't be young and reckless Aaron no more."

She was 7 months old when Hernandez was arrested in 2018

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

On June 26, 2013 — when Avielle was just 7 months old — Hernandez was arrested on first-degree murder charges for the shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée at the time.

Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez, along with two other men, picked up Lloyd in a rented Nissan Altima at his home just after 2:30 a.m. on June 17, 2013, and drove him to a secluded industrial park in North Attleborough, where he was shot six times. It remains unclear who pulled the trigger, but prosecutors said that Hernandez orchestrated the killing.

The trial began nearly a year and a half later on Jan. 29, 2015. Hernandez was eventually found guilty of first-degree murder on April 15, 2015, and sentenced to life in prison.

She attended Hernandez's double murder trial as a 4-year-old

While in prison for the murder of Lloyd, Hernandez's second trial began in March 2017 — this time over accusations he murdered Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a drive-by shooting outside of a Boston nightclub in 2012.

While the jury deliberated in April 2017, Hernandez's fiancée Jenkins-Hernandez attended the trial with Avielle in tow for the first time. The Washington Post reported at the time that Hernandez blew his 4-year-old daughter several kisses and waves in the courtoom. It would be the last time Avielle saw her father alive.

On April 19, 2017, Hernandez died by suicide — five days after he was acquitted on double murder charges.

Hernandez left behind three suicide notes, including one for Avielle. "Daddy will never leave you! I'm entering to the timeless realm in which I can enter into any form at any time because everything that could happen or not happened I see all at once! Life is eternal—believe!!!" he wrote. "Love, repent, and see me/yourself in everyone because that's what the truth is! I'll see you all in the heavens awaiting you all with the same love."

"Never fear me, but love me with all of you! Fear is the only separation between you and I! We are each other—I/you—you/me—there's no need to fear but what you do unto another will come back around!"

She's a big sister

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

On June 16, 2018, Avielle became a big sister when Jenkins gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Giselle. Jenkins-Hernandez revealed her pregnancy on Instagram in May 2018, 13 months after her fiancé Hernandez died in prison. Sources close to the family confirmed to PEOPLE that Hernandez did not freeze his sperm and was not the father of Jenkins-Hernandez's second child.

Despite their five-year age gap, Avielle appears to be a doting big sister to Giselle. Jenkins-Hernandez frequently shares images of the duo on her Instagram account, writing in July 2020: "I never have to worry about them taking care of each other !!!! #thebestoffriends❤️ #sisterlove💕."

She is a dancer

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

Avielle has been dancing competitively since she was at least 6 years old when Jenkins-Hernandez first shared an image of her older child sporting a competitive dance team jacket. Around the same time, when Avielle was entering 1st grade in 2019, Jenkins-Hernandez revealed on social media that Avielle aspired to be a professional dancer when she grew up.

Over the years, Jenkins-Hernandez has shared several of Avielle's dance accomplishments on her Instagram account, including playing a mouse in the Nutcracker ballet, earning a 5-year award in 2020 and performing solos. "Little does she know how proud her dad would be !!! Baby You are a STAR 💫," Jenkins-Hernandez wrote on Instagram in March 2021 alongside a trio of photos of Avielle competing on stage.

The cost of Avielle's dance lessons, however, raised concerns in September 2022 over how Hernandez's fiancée was spending the late NFL player's trust fund money. That month, Jenkins-Hernandez asked for $10,000 from the trust to cover the cost of Avielle's competitive dance lessons. The request was denied by attorney David Schwartz, who cited approximately $150,000 in funds issued to Jenkins-Hernandez each year to cover Avielle's daily expenses.

"There is every reason to question whether and how the Conservator is applying the significant resources that should be available to pay for Avielle's daily needs, including dance lessons, especially since all of her basic housing security and educational expenses are paid from the Trust," read court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Jenkins-Hernandez maintains that she's done what's in her daughter's best interests when it comes to any funds distributed from Hernandez's trust to her.

"Since Aaron's death, my sole focus has been on raising and providing as stable a life for my children as possible," the mom of two claimed in an e-mail to the Boston Globe. "All monies I have spent have been with this singular focus in mind, and this will continue to be my focus going forward."

She has the same "energy and personality" as her father 

Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez Instagram

When Avielle was born, Hernandez immediately spoke of the resemblance between himself and his only child. "She's a cutie," he told the media two days after her birth in 2012. "I can't wait to go back and basically look at myself."

As Avielle has grown up, she's continued to resemble her late father. Jenkins-Hernandez often comments on the similarities between them: In February 2019, she posted a photo of Avielle side-by-side with a young Hernandez to her Instagram, calling her daughter "Daddy's twin."

Jenkins-Hernandez has also spoken about how the two share similar personality traits. "The both of you act so much alike it's insane," she wrote on Instagram in November 2017. In April 2019, on the two year anniversary of Hernandez's death, his fiancée shared: "The energy and personality Avielle has is totally you!"

She echoed a similar sentiment two years later in April 2021, writing how Avielle keeps Hernandez's "presence alive."