Here's What's Happening:
- Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty Wednesday of the first-degree murder of his friend, Odin Lloyd.
- He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He has the right to appeal.
- Hernandez was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a weapon and ammunition.
- Ursula Ward, Odin's mother, said during the sentencing phase she forgives "all involved" in her son's murder and that "I miss my baby Odin so much, but I know I'm gonna see him someday, and that is giving me the strength to go on."
Updates
Six of the jurors said in a press conference they were Patriots fans.
Thibou said that when she found out her brother had been killed she did not believe it.
"We grew up in a neighborhood that wasn't the best, he avoided all these things," she said. "He was never in a gang, he never picked up a gun, and this is how he died."
"Odin was a good man," she added.
Lloyd's sister Olivia Thibou also spoke before the sentencing.
Odin Lloyd's mother Ursula Ward delivered a victim impact statement before Hernandez was sentenced on Wednesday.
Ward described her son as the man of the house, and said he was loved by his whole family.
She said she will now never get to dance with him at his wedding and his young relatives will never know him.
"I miss my baby Odin so much, but I know I'm gonna see him someday, and that is giving me the strength to go on," she said.
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of former semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.
The conviction means the jury believed he committed the crime with "extreme atrocity and cruelty."
A first degree murder charge in Massachusetts carries a sentence of life without parole. Hernandez will be sentenced shortly.
He was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
The trial included 131 prosecution witnesses and two defense witnesses.
On June 16, 2013, Aaron Hernandez and two friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, gathered at Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass. Around 11 p.m., the three men left in a rented silver Nissan Altima and drove 45 minutes north to Boston to pick up Odin Lloyd.
Lloyd's body was found at an empty industrial lot in North Attleborough on the afternoon of June 17, 2013. He had been shot six times with a .45 Glock.
The next day, police arrived at Hernandez's home and questioned him about Lloyd's murder. He was arrested on June 26, 2013 and has been in custody since.
The .45 Glock used to murder Lloyd was never found, but prosecutors argued it was in a box Shayanna threw away at Hernandez's direction. The prosecution also struggled to present a motive to the jury, but hinted that Hernandez might have felt he could not trust Lloyd.
Lloyd and Hernandez had met in August 2012 through their girlfriends, sisters Shaneah and Shayanna Jenkins, respectively. Over the next few months, Shaneah and Lloyd visited Shayanna and Hernandez at their home in North Attleborough. Around the beginning of June 2013, Hernandez and Lloyd began developing a friendship of their own, independent of the Jenkins sisters.
Hernandez faces separate charges for a 2012 double homicide that took place in Boston. He was charged in connection to the shooting after he was arrested for Odin Lloyd's murder. That trial begins next month.