ST. CROIX – Even though she thinks about her dead son Odin Lloyd every day, Ursula Ward said she believes in God and therefore has faith that she will one day be reunited with her son.
Ward told Judge Susan Garsh in a Fall River, Massachusetts courtroom that it is her faith that gave her the strength to forgive Aaron Hernandez, 25, for brutally murdering her son.
“I forgive the hands of the people that had a hand in my son’s murder,” Ward said. “I pray and hope that someday everyone out there will forgive them also.”
“Odin was my only son,” his mother, Ward continued telling the court, without looking at Hernandez. “Odin was the man of the house. Odin was his sisters’ keeper. After my daughter Olivia had her daughter, Odin became her keeper, too.”
Ursula Ward, mother of Odin Lloyd
“I thank God every second for every day I spent with my son. The day I laid my son Odin to rest, I think my heart stopped beating for a moment. I felt like I wanted to go in that hole with my son Odin.”
Lloyd was “the backbone of the family,” she said, adding that her only regret was that she’d never see any grandchildren from him with his same big heart.
“Just like God has left his footprint in the sand, my baby’s footprint is in my heart forever,” Ward said. “He was my strength. I love him dearly.”
Lloyd’s sister Olivia Thibou said she felt as if she lived in a dream world. “It’s just another day that Odin is not here.”
Outside court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said of her ability to forgive: “I think it’s a tremendous compliment to her.”
“As difficult as it is for people in the end, forgiveness is what it’s about, if people can bring themselves to that point, Quinn said.
Feature Image Credit: Mass Live
Body Image Credit: New York Daily News
Tags: Ursula Ward
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