Former New England Patriots star and newly convicted killer Aaron Hernandez is facing a second murder trial in a 2012 drive-by shooting that left two men dead and a third wounded. Earlier today, the 25-year-old athlete was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2013 shooting death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. A jury panel in Fall River, Massachusetts, spent 36 hours spread over seven days deliberating Hernandez’s fate before returning a guilty verdict. Scroll down for video . More victims: Aaron Hernandez is accused of killing Daniel Abreu (left), 29, and Safirdo Furtado (right), 28, immigrants from Cape Verde, in July 2012 after a nightclub altercation over a spilled drink . Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, pictured at his sentencing at the Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts, Wednesday, is facing a second trial in a 2012 deadly drive-by shooting . Following the sentencing phase, which took place immediately after the conviction, Hernandez was handcuffed and returned to jail. A first-degree murder conviction in Massachusetts automatically triggers an appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court. A date for the Hernandez appeal wasn't immediately set. But the former Patriots tight-end will back in front of a judge later this year, this time in Boston, to face murder charges in the killings of Daniel Abreu, 29, and Safirdo Furtado, 28. The jury that rendered the Lloyd verdict was not told about that case. On July 16, 2012, the two immigrants from Cape Verde were found murdered in their car at a stop light in South Boston following a drive-by shooting. A third man was wounded in the incident but survived. They had reportedly gotten into a fight with Hernandez and his crew over a spilled drink at a night club prior to their murders. In May 2014, Hernandez was indicted for both killings. He pleaded not guilty. According to prosecutors, de Abreu accidentally bumped into him at Cure Lounge, spilling Hernandez's drink. Hernandez told a friend he thought the man was 'trying' him, and surveillance video outside the club showed Hernandez pacing back and forth while his friend tried to calm him down at around 2.30am. Later, Hernandez drove around until he saw the men get in a BMW, followed them and shot at them from a silver SUV at a stop light, prosecutors said. A third man in their car also was shot but survived. About six weeks after that shooting, Hernandez signed a five-year, $40million contract with the Patriots, and he went on to play for another season before Lloyd was killed. He was cut from the team soon after being arrested in Lloyd's killing in June 2013. The Boston case against Hernandez is considered to be stronger than the one that had just wrapped up in Fall River because prosecutors have the suspected murder weapon in the drive-by shooting and eyewitness accounts to rely upon, according to Fox Sports. Justice for Odin: The 25-year-old athlete (left) was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2013 shooting death semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd (right) Back behind bars: Following the sentencing phase, Hernandez was handcuffed and returned to jail . Under lock and key: The 25-year-old will spend the rest of his days at a maximum-security prison . The trial had been scheduled to get under way May 28, but now it will be pushed back into the fall or early next year to give Hernandez’s defense team ample time to prepare. 'We expect to select a new court date in the coming days and then set the amended trial track,' Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, said in the wake of Wednesday's verdict, reported CNN. In the Boston case, Hernandez faces two counts of first-degree murder; three counts of armed assault with intent to murder; one count of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. Hernandez also faces civil lawsuits from the families of the men he is accused of killing. And he was sued by Alexander Bradley, a former friend who says Hernandez shot him in the face and left him for dead in an industrial park in Florida after arguing with him in February 2013. Bradley lost his eye in the shooting and subsequently testified against Hernandez at his murder trial but never brought criminal charges of his own against his friend. The high-paid athlete had his $5million in assets frozen pending the outcome of the drive-by shooting trial. In court Wednesday, Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in Lloyd's killing and several lesser charges - mostly related to the weapon he used in the murder - a .40-caliber Glock pistol which has never been found. Hernandez was found guilty of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of carrying a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card and possession of ammunition without an identification card. The prosecution said the player and two friends Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz drove Lloyd to an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough mansion and shot him to death, execution-style. Hernandez's attorneys countered that Hernandez was a witness to, not a participant in, the killing. Wallace and Ortiz are to be tried separately on murder charges. The Patriots cut Hernandez hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, nine days after a teenage jogger found Lloyd's body. Tears of joy, tears of sorrow: Ursula Ward, mother of the victim, and Terri Hernandez, mother of the defendant, burst into tears after hearing the guilty verdict . Lost love: Shaneah Jenkins, girlfriend of Odin Lloyd, broke down when the jury convicted her boyfriend's killer . During four months of testimony, the jury heard from more than 130 witnesses who testified that Hernandez, a native of Bristol, Connecticut, was a regular user of marijuana and sometimes of the stimulant PCP, that he owned guns and at times acted paranoid and that he said he felt his friends did not appreciate the things he did for them. Defense lawyers closed their case by saying Hernandez had been present at the time of Lloyd's slaying, but had been a witness not a participant. 'He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed ... a shocking killing committed by somebody he knew,' said defense attorney James Sultan. 'He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other. Prosecutors countered that Hernandez had plotted and controlled every detail of the slaying. 'He believed he could kill Odin Lloyd and nobody would ever believe that he was involved,' said Assistant District Attorney William McCauley. Hernandez was led out of his mansion in handcuffs on June 26, 2013 - nine days after Odin Lloyd was found shot execution-style in an industrial park a mile away. Lloyd, 27, was a semi professional football player for the Boston Bandits. He had also been dating Shaneah Jenkins - the sister of Hernandez's fiancée and mother of his child, Shayanna Jenkins. Separate surveillance videos show Hernandez outside Lloyd's home about an hour before the murder, and then walking into his own $1.3million mansion after shots were heard. It also emerged that the NFL star destroyed surveillance video at his home. When he handed over his cell phone, it had been smashed to pieces. Ursula Ward had tears streaming down her face during a press conference following the conviction and sentencing of her son's killer . All eyes on jury: Jurors in the high-profile murder trial addressed the media after convicting Hernandez of first-degree murder . Hernandez glanced to the side and pursed his lips after the 12-person jury pronounced the first-degree murder conviction this afternoon. His mother and fiancee sobbed in the gallery. Dressed in a sharp suit and tie, he sat down as the jury convicted him on two separate gun and ammunition charges. Lloyd's tearful mother, Ursula Ward, told the court that she felt her heart 'stop beating for a moment' when she laid her son to rest, but that she had managed to forgive his murderers. 'I miss my baby boy Odin so much but I know I'm going to see him someday again and that is giving me the strength to go on,' she said, choking back tears. Not surprisingly, prosecutors welcomed the guilty verdict. 'The jury found that he was just a man who committed a brutal murder. The fact that he was a professional athlete meant nothing in the end,' District Attorney Thomas Quinn said. The murder weapon was never discovered, but analysts said the evidence against Hernandez was overwhelming. Hernandez has the right to appeal the conviction.
Former New England Patriots tight-end was convicted Wednesday of killing Odin Lloyd and sentenced to life in prison without parole . Hernandez, 25, will face a judge in Boston later this year in 2012 drive-by shooting that left two dead . Athlete is accused of shooting two immigrants from Cape Verde Daniel Abreu, 29, and Safirdo Furtado, after nightclub spat . Hernandez signed five-year, $40million contract with Patriots after drive-by shooting and played for another season before Lloyd was killed . Hernandez faces two counts of first-degree murder, armed assault and weapons charge . Had his $5million in assets frozen pending the outcome of the drive-by shooting trial .