DENVER – Suspected gang member Willie Clark was found guilty of murder Thursday in the drive-by shooting death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams after a New Year's Eve outing three years ago.

Clark showed no emotion as the verdict was read but leaned back and looked at the ceiling after the jury was dismissed. He gave a small smile to relatives before he was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs.

He faces life in prison at his April 30 sentencing.

Williams, a native of Fort Worth, played at Oklahoma State, where he was a 2003 All-Big 12 selection.

The Broncos made him their second-round pick, 56th overall, in the 2005 draft.

Williams' mother, Rosalind, wept as she left the courtroom.

"We'll never know what happened that night," she said later. "This is a start, to clean up the streets here and hopefully everywhere else."

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said: "After three long years, it is very gratifying to see closure brought to this case."

The jury deliberated for a day and a half after an 11-day trial then convicted Clark on all 21 counts he faced, including the murder of Williams and the attempted murders of the 16 others in a Hummer stretch limo with the one-time Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt star.

Clark didn't testify during the trial, citing threats to himself and his family. Defense attorney Darren Cantor said gang members had threatened to turn Clark into "Swiss cheese" if he said anything.

Williams was killed about 2 a.m. on New Year's Day 2007. Prosecutors said Clark fired the fatal shots from an SUV that pulled up beside the limo.

Clark was angry over an altercation involving friends of Williams and friends of Clark that occurred in a nightclub before the shooting, prosecutors said. A member of Williams' group had sprayed champagne on New Year's partiers.

Defense attorney Abraham Hutt said Clark wasn't even in the SUV during the shooting.

"This is what this is about: Willie Clark is a scapegoat," Hutt told jurors.

Hutt tried to undercut the credibility of five prosecution witnesses who got shorter prison time in other cases in exchange for testifying. Hutt they saw their sentences reduced by a combined 188 years.

Hutt said the prosecution's star witness, Daniel "Ponytail" Harris, faced a life sentence for a drug charge but will be let go within two years. Harris testified he saw Clark fire the shots.

The defense suggested during the trial that Harris had fired into the limo. Harris hasn't been charged in the case.