Hernandez's father death

Hernandez's father died in January 2006, from complications from hernia surgery, when Hernandez was 16. According to his mother, Hernandez was greatly affected by his father's death, and he acted out his grief by rebelling against authority figures. Those who knew him said he never got over his father's death. Hernandez became estranged from his mother and largely moved in with Tanya Singleton, his older cousin. Following Dennis's death, the family learned that Terri Hernandez and Singleton's husband, Jeff Cummings, had been having an extramarital affair. After the affair became public, Singleton and Cummings divorced, and Cummings moved in with Terri. This "enraged" Hernandez. It was while he was living with Singleton that Hernandez became more involved in criminal activity.