Aaron Hernandez’s Family Prepares For Funeral In Star Athlete’s Hometown

Funeral services for Aaron Hernandez commenced Monday at the former NFL player's hometown of Bristol, Connecticut.

Hernandez, 27, committed suicide Wednesday by hanging himself with a bed sheet from his prison cell window at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.

Friends and family arrived Monday at the invitation-only service that included Hernandez's mother, brother and fiancée Shayanna Jenkins, the Associated Press reported Monday. The burial will take place at an undisclosed location. At least one defense attorney from Hernandez’s legal team was also reportedly present at the service.

Read: Shayanna Jenkins And Daughter Avielle Pictured For First Time Since Aaron Hernandez’s Suicide

Attorney George Leontire, a lawyer for Jenkins, reportedly filed a motion Monday ahead of the 1 p.m. service requesting a judge release copies of the three handwritten suicide notes Hernandez left next to a Bible in his cell before committing suicide, the Boston Globe reported Monday. The notes were written to Jenkins, Hernandez’s daughter and a close prison friend.

''The family has the right, during this grieving process, to know their loved one's final thoughts," wrote the attorney, George Leontire, according to the AP. Leontire added that the notes are a “necessary as part of the grieving process,” according to the Globe.

While the Worcester County district attorney’s office announced Thursday that Hernandez’s death was ruled a suicide, investigations are ongoing. Authorities are reportedly looking into the possibility that Hernandez smoked K2, or synthetic marijuana, before his death. According to the AP, a judge on Friday ordered that key evidence in Hernandez's death be preserved so the family can further investigate details surrounding his death.

Hernandez’s family announced last week that his brain would be released to Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center to be studied for possible trauma. The announcement was made after the Massachusetts medical examiner’s office formally ruled the death a suicide.