Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez began his trial on January 29, 2015 for the murder of Odin Lloyd, which occurred on June 17, 2013.

More than 18 months ago, Lloyd’s body was found in an industrial park in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Lloyd had been shot seven times in this secluded area of dirt and rubbish. Lloyd, 27, was a semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits.

Days after he was found dead, then-NFL star Aaron Hernandez was arrested, as well as his two friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, all charged in connection with the murder.

That summer night, the three men planned to hang out for a bit after a Father’s day dinner for Hernandez on June 17, 2013 with his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins. Just after midnight, Hernandez picked up Lloyd to join them.

Allegedly, around 3:30 a.m., the four pulled up to the vacant industrial park. Nearby construction workers reported hearing gunshots at that time. Hernandez, Ortiz, and Wallace drove back to Hernandez’s residence, where his surveillance system showed Hernandez entering the home. Hernandez had what looked to be a gun, which contained similar bullets and casings found around Lloyd’s body.

Aaron Hernandez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Lloyd. Testimony in the case against Hernandez began last week. Hernandez also faces murder charges from a 2012 double homicide. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

These charges mark the end of Hernandez’s football career. Just two years ago, he was one of the NFL’s most promising tight ends, signing a $40-million contract extension with the New England Patriots.

As the trial began, Judge Susan Garsh decided against presenting some key evidence to the jurors which could be unfavorable to Aaron Hernandez. For example, at 3:19 a.m. on the day he was killed, Lloyd allegedly texted his sister, Olivia Thibou, the following message:

“U saw who I was with … NFL … Just so U know.”

Thibou said this was a code name for Hernandez. Lloyd was killed at 3:25 a.m.

Prosecutors argued the texts could prove Lloyd was trying to notify his sister that he was in impending danger. Hernandez’s defense team said that this interpretation was a “fantasy” and that the texts were irrelevant to whether Hernandez murdered Lloyd.

To the judge, the prosecutors’ argument “is clearly in the realm of speculation,” Garsh said in December, according to The Boston Globe. “Prosecutors do not provide a basis to infer that he was under the belief of imminent death,” she added.