Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty on Wednesday of first-degree murder in a deadly late-night shooting, sealing the downfall of an athlete who once had a $40million contract and a standout career ahead of him. Hernandez, 25, looked to his right and pursed his lips after the jury forewoman read the verdict. The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old landscaper and amateur weekend football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. Hernandez’s mother, Terri, and his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, cried and gasped when they heard the verdict. Shayanna Jenkins wept on his mother’s shoulder. Hernandez later mouthed to them: 'Be strong. Be strong.' Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez has been found guilty on of first-degree murder . The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole . The conviction sealed the downfall of an athlete who once had a $40million contract and a standout career . The former football pro was also found guilty on firearm and ammunition charges. For reasons that were never made clear to the jury, Lloyd was shot six times in the middle of the night on June 17, 2013, in a deserted industrial park near Hernandez’s home. Police almost immediately zeroed in on Hernandez because they found in Lloyd’s pocket the key to a car the NFL player had rented. Within hours of Hernandez’s arrest, the Patriots cut the former Pro Bowl athlete, who was considered one of the top tight ends in the game. Prosecutors presented a wealth of evidence that Hernandez was with Lloyd at the time he was killed, including home security video from Hernandez’s mansion, witness testimony and cellphone records that tracked Lloyd’s movements. Hernandez’s lawyer, James Sultan, acknowledged for the first time during closing arguments that Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed. Terri Hernandez clutches her son's fianceé Shayanna as the jury returned a guilty on all counts . Ursula Ward, mother of the victim, reacts to the guilty verdict for former NFL player  Hernandez . Hernandez was pictured posing with a Glock handgun when he was a student in 2009 . Odin Lloyd has been identified as the man who was found dead less than a mile away from the $1.3million mansion of New England Patriots player Hernandez . But the attorney pinned the shooting on two of Hernandez’s friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, saying his client was a '23-year-old kid' who witnessed a shocking crime and didn’t know what to do. Wallace and Ortiz will stand trial later. Prosecutors have suggested Lloyd may have been killed because he knew too much about Hernandez’s alleged involvement in a deadly 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston. But they were not allowed to tell the jury that because the judge said it was speculation. As a result, they never offered a motive beyond saying Hernandez appeared angry with Lloyd at a nightclub two nights before the killing. Hernandez faces further legal trouble: He is awaiting trial on murder charges in the drive-by shooting. He is accused of gunning down two men over a spilled drink at a nightclub. In the Lloyd killing, the defense argued that investigators fixated on Hernandez because of his celebrity and conducted a shoddy investigation in their zeal to confirm their suspicions. A court officer places handcuffs on the wrists Hernandez after the guilty verdict was read during . Shaneah Jenkins, left, girlfriend of victim Odin Lloyd, comforts a cousin of Lloyd in the courtroom . THE EVIDENCE . Prosecutors produced neither a murder weapon nor a witness to Lloyd's shooting in a North Attleborough industrial park. Their case hinged on other elements: cellphone records showing Hernandez and two friends communicating with Lloyd around the time of the slaying; Lloyd's phone pinging cell towers between Boston and North Attleborough; surveillance video at Hernandez's home showing him holding a black item that appeared to be a gun minutes after workers at the industrial park heard gunshots; a joint found near Lloyd's body with Hernandez's and Lloyd's DNA on it. THE DEFENSE . During closing arguments, Hernandez lawyer James Sultan for the first time acknowledged what evidence pointed to: Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed. But he described Hernandez as a witness, a 23-year-old kid who didn't know what to do after seeing a shocking crime. Sultan pinned it on Hernandez's two co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, both of whom have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later. JURY'S ROAD TRIP . Midway through the trial, jurors boarded a bus to tour key spots in the case, including Hernandez's home, the street where the victim lived and the spot where his body was found. State police stood guard as the jury inspected the street in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood where Lloyd lived with his mother and sisters. Jurors also trekked out in the cold to the snow-covered gravel lot where Lloyd's bullet-ridden body was found and toured Hernandez's mansion a mile from the crime scene. TEARS FOR A SON . Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, wept quietly at times during the trial. Overcome with emotion, she would sometimes leave the courtroom in tears when jurors were shown graphic photos of her 27-year-old son's body. Before Ward testified, Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh ordered her not to cry on the stand. Ward remained stoic. When photos of Lloyd's body in the morgue were shown, she mouthed the words, 'My baby, my baby.' HERNANDEZ'S FIANCEE . Hernandez's fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, was compelled to testify after she was granted immunity from prosecution. Wearing her large diamond engagement ring, Jenkins testified that Hernandez had told her in the days following the shooting that he was not involved. Jenkins testified she removed a box from their basement at his request the day after the slaying but never looked inside before she dumped it in a random trash bin. Prosecutors said the box may have held evidence including the murder weapon. Jenkins, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Hernandez, avoided looking at him during her testimony. THE SISTERS . Jenkins and her younger sister, Shaneah, both attended the trial at times but sat on opposite sides of the courtroom. Shayanna sat behind Hernandez and could be seen joking with him, several times exchanging whispered 'I love yous' when she attended. Shaneah would sit with Lloyd's family. Before he was killed, she and Lloyd had made plans to move in together while she attended law school in Boston. Both sisters testified while the other sat in the audience, watching and sometimes seeming annoyed. THE VERDICT . After Wednesday's verdict was read, Jenkins and Hernandez's mother clutched each other and cried. Hernandez mouthed to them the words, 'Be strong. Be strong.' The verdict came early on the seventh day of jury deliberations. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors said Hernandez organized the killing, summoned his two friends to help carry it out, and drove Lloyd and the others to the secluded spot in the industrial park. During closing arguments, prosecutors also accused Hernandez of pulling the trigger, though under the law it was not necessary to prove who fired the shots to convict him. Security video from inside Hernandez’s home showed him holding what appeared to be a gun less than 10 minutes after Lloyd was killed. The surveillance system also captured Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz relaxing at his home hours after Lloyd was shot, hanging out in the basement “man cave,” lounging by the pool and cuddling Hernandez’s baby daughter. Hernandez was an All-American out of the University of Florida who was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round in 2010. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez found guilty for murder of Odin Lloyd . The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole . Athlete once had a $40million contract and a standout career ahead of him . The former American football pro was also found guilty on firearm and ammunition charges .