Hernandez Cousin Cites Cancer In Bid To Avoid Jail

A cousin of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez is asking a Massachusetts judge to spare her from more jail time, citing her cancer.

Tanya Singleton, of Bristol, Connecticut, is charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury that indicted Hernandez in a murder case. She has pleaded not guilty, but intends to change the plea next Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court.

The Boston Globe reports  that Singleton's lawyer filed court papers Tuesday saying any more incarceration "likely would hasten her death." She served 196 days before posting bail last winter and wants to remain on home confinement.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in a 2013 killing in North Attleborough, Massachusetts and in the 2012 killings of two men in Boston.