Aaron Hernandez's lawyers heading back to court

Aaron Hernandez is not heading back to court just yet, but his lawyers will be.

A May 21 status hearing has been set at the Suffolk County Superior Court for the double-murder charge Hernandez faces for a 2012 shooting in Boston's South End.

Prosecutors allege that in July 2012, the former New England Patriots star opened fire on an SUV, killing two people and wounding another.

Hernandez, already serving a life sentence following his conviction last month in the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, has pled not guilty to the double homicide. He is not expected to be in court for the status hearing, according to The Patch, meaning he will likely remain in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, located 40 miles west of Boston.

A status hearing is just that: a hearing for lawyers on both sides to update one another on the status of the case. More precisely, it's a moment for the prosecution to determine if the defendant is willing to announce a plea negotiation.

Hernandez pled not guilty to the murder of Lloyd, a case that prosecutors relied heavily on circumstantial evidence. The double-homicide case against Hernandez is considered much stronger.

Prosecutors allege that on July 16, 2012, Hernandez and friend Alexander Bradley were at Cure nightclub in Boston. At some point in the evening, Daniel de Abreu bumped into Hernandez, spilling his drink.

Prosecutors allege that Hernandez left the club enraged, circling around the block in a silver SUV, waiting for de Abreu to leave.

At 2:10 a.m., video shows Hernandez's SUV circling the block as de Abreu, Safiro Furtado and three others walk to a BMW. Shortly thereafter, prosecutors allege Hernandez pulled alongside the BMW at a stoplight and opened fire on the car, killing de Abreu, 29, and Furtado, 28, and injuring a third passenger.

The case had gone cold for nearly a year until the investigation into the Lloyd murder led police to a house in Bristol, Conn., where they found the silver SUV that tied Hernandez to the murders.

While no eye witnesses testified against Hernandez in the shooting death of Lloyd, Bradley is expected to flip on his friend and identify him as the shooter in the 2012 death of de Abreu and Furtado. Also, one of the BMW passengers identified Hernandez as the shooter after seeing him on television following his arrest for the murder of Lloyd.

Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the death of Lloyd.

Tuesday, Oscar Hernandez, no relation to Aaron, was sentenced to two years in prison for shipping guns from Florida to Massachusetts to the former Patriots tight end.