Aaron Hernandez’ Cousin Cites Cancer in Attempt to Avoid Jail Time

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A cousin of former New England Patriots star 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 in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. She intends to change her not guilty plea next Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court.

The Boston Globe reports that Singleton's lawyer filed court papers Tuesday saying 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 the 2013 killing in North Attleborough and in the 2012 killings of two men in Boston.