'Another stone killer off the streets,' says mother of slain CFL player as murderer convicted

A Calgary man has been found guilty of murdering Stampedersplayer Mylan Hicks, who was fatally shot outside a nightclub where the football team had been celebrating a Saturday night win.

On Monday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice KeithYamauchi convictedNelson Lugela, 21, of second-degree murder which comes with an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years.

A sentencing hearing will take place in May and prosecutors Gord Haight and Tom Spark say they'll be seeking "a substantial step up "from the minimum" 10 year period.

Lugelakilled Hicks outside the Marquee Beer Market in Calgary in 2016.

Hicks's mother, Renee Hill, yelled at her son's killer as he was escorted out of the courtroom by sheriffs: "For what, Lugela? For what?"

"Another stone killer off the streets," she continued outside the courtroom.

• 'A matter of principle:' Family of slain CFL player files lawsuit against bar

The senselessness of the killing was a sentiment echoed by the prosecutors who spoke after the decision was handed down.

"Clearly it appeared that the offender wasto use one of the player's descriptionslooking for trouble that night and he eventually found it," said prosecutor Gord Haight."Unfortunately, Mr. Hicks paid the price over really what amounts to nothing."

Hicks was shot in the chest and the abdomen in the early hours of Sept. 25, 2016, outside the bar,where 15 to 25members of the team had been celebrating a last-minute victory over Winnipeg.

Earlier in the night, two groups of people the killer, histwo friends and some Stamps players argued over a spilled drink. Hicks was nowhere near the altercation.

Later on, outside the club after it closed, tensions ramped up again and Lugela shot Hicks as he was running away from the gunshots.

"Mr. Hicks was either on the ground or falling when the second bullet hit," saidYamauchi.

In convicting the killer, Yamauchi noted identity was thecrucial issue.

In his finding that the shooter was indeed Lugela, Yamauchi did not rely just on eyewitnesses. The judge also considered in-car police cruiser video and witnesses who picked out Lugela from a photo lineup.

Videoevidence presented at the trial shows a man in awhite shirt carrying something in hisright hand that "is consistent with the shape of a handgun," noted the judge.

Additional support for Yamauchi's decision came from DarwinConcepcion, whowas withLugelathe night of the killing and was a Crown witness.He testifiedLugelatold him he had shot someone and believed his victim would not survive.

Concepcionhelped lead police to the weapon, which was discarded in a recycling bin near the nightclub.

Although defence lawyer Alain Hepner argued Lugela was too drunk to form the necessary intent for murder, the judge disagreed.

Teammate reacts

In a written statement to CBC News, Stamps offensive lineman Derek Dennis said he hopes the guilty verdict brings closure to thefamily of his "beloved teammate."

Dennis was at the Marquee club the night of the shooting and witnessed his friend being shot, testifying that "Mylan hit the concrete face down."

Shortly after Lugelaand his friends took off, Dennis who was being taken to police headquarters to give a witness statement spotted the killer and his friends a short distance from the crime scene.

"Mylan impacted so many of us in a short period of time and will always be remembered for the outstanding person he was, off the field as well as on it."