The New England Patriots can become “champions of justice” by agreeing to pay $6 million to the estate of former tight end Aaron J. Hernandez, a move that would make that money available to the family of Odin L. Lloyd who was shot to death by Hernandez in 2013, a lawyer said Friday.

Douglas K. Sheff, the lawyer for Lloyd’s mother Ursula Ward, made the request during a press conference in Boston. He said Hernandez has already been ruled legally responsible for Lloyd’s death in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the Lloyd family.

The only outstanding issue in the lawsuit, he said, is how much the family will recover from the estate of Hernandez, who killed himself this week in his state prison cell, where he was serving life without parole for murdering Lloyd in North Attleborough in 2013.


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