The estate of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the families of two men he was accused of killing in 2012 in a drive-by shooting in Boston’s South End, records show.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Wilkins on Tuesday issued an order of dismissal of the suit brought by the families of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, after the “action was reported settled,” a legal filing said. Terms weren’t disclosed.
The document stipulated that the agreement be filed in the court by Aug. 23.
William T. Kennedy, a lawyer for the Furtado family, said via e-mail that settlement terms are confidential.
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“What the family of Safiro Furtado will always remember is that Safiro was taken much too soon,” Kennedy wrote. “Safiro had come to this country for the opportunity it presented. He wanted to get an education and make a contribution for himself and his family. Safiro will be remembered as a thoughtful generous young man. His family appreciates those that keep Safiro in their thoughts and prayers.”
Kenneth I. Kolpan, a lawyer for de Abreu’s widow, said the settlement “honors the legacy and memory of Daniel de Abreu, my client’s former husband.”
George Leontire, a lawyer for Hernandez’s estate, said via e-mail that he had “no comment except to say no assets of the estate were used to settle the matters.”
Hernandez had been charged criminally with two counts of murder in the slayings but was acquitted at trial in 2017.
Prosecutors had alleged that Hernandez gunned down the men on July 16, 2012, in a blind rage after a run-in at the Cure Lounge, a South End nightclub, while his lawyers insisted that Alexander Bradley, Hernandez’s former friend and marijuana supplier, had killed the pair over a drug deal.
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Hernandez was also acquitted of a charge alleging he shot Bradley in Florida months after the double murder. Days after his courtroom victory, Hernandez hanged himself in prison, where he was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of his friend Odin Lloyd, who was dating a sister of the former Patriot player’s girlfriend.
Lloyd’s family settled a separate wrongful death lawsuit with the Hernandez estate last year.
And Bradley, who had sued Hernandez over the alleged Florida shooting, had settled with Hernandez in 2016.
Terms weren’t disclosed in either of those two settlements.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.