Shayanna Jenkins shocked the members of the court on Monday when, after a long day of testimony, she dropped a bit of a bombshell.
Jenkins–who has been testifying in NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s murder trial–said early in the day that her fiance called her the day after victim Odin Lloyd’s body was found and asked her to go downstairs in their home to retrieve a box. He asked her to get rid of it, but never told her what was inside, she said, and she didn’t look. Jenkins can be seen on surveillance footage taking the bulky box–which she covered with baby clothes and a garbage bag–and leaving the house with it. She borrowed her sister’s car, she claims, and drove around until she found a dumpster at random to drop the box into.
Late into the afternoon on Monday, Jenkins was asked whether she smelled the box, to which she replied she did, and that it smelled “skunky”, claiming that it reminded her of marijuana. The revelation comes as something of a blow to prosecutors, who believe that the murder weapon was in that box. If it was, indeed, full of drugs, it would make sense for Hernandez to ask Jenkins to get rid of it the day after Lloyd’s body was found, since he already knew he was a suspect and had talked to police.
However, as courtroom reporters noted, Jenkins stated previously that Hernandez didn’t tell her what was in the box, which doesn’t fit the theory that he asked her to get rid of it because it contained drugs. Also, the fact that she is only just revealing what might have been inside the mysterious box means she’s kept valuable knowledge from the court all this time, knowledge that could have helped Hernandez much sooner.
When asked where she dropped the box, Jenkins said she didn’t remember due to nerves, as everything was in chaos at the time. Hernandez–who shares a two-year old child with Jenkins–was being questioned in the murder of Lloyd, who was Jenkins’ sister’s boyfriend.
“I found a random dumpster, I don’t know exactly where it was located,” she said. “I really had to play a neutral role as far as trying to comfort my sister. Everyone’s emotions were kind of on me,” Jenkins said.