Kelly Ellard sobbed quietly in a B.C. courtroom Friday night when a jury found her guilty of murdering Reena Virk, a girl witnesses said she had bragged about killing.

Ellard's friends and family also wept as the verdict was read out Friday night, two days after the jury began its deliberations.

The victim's grandmother walked over to comfort Ellard's mother, wrapping her arm around the woman. Virk's grandfather, Mukand Pallan, said "justice has been done."

Kelly Ellard

Ellard, now 17, was charged with second-degree murder in the savage beating and drowning of Virk, a 14-year-old Victoria student, in the fall of 1997.

She was the last of eight teens, seven of them girls, accused of attacking Virk. The case stunned the country, and raised concerns about growing violence among young women.

Six of the girls, all between 14 and 16, were convicted but can't be identified because they were prosecuted as young offenders.

"> Nov 14, 1997: Reena Virk, 14, is beaten twice and drowned. Nov. 21, 1997: Warren Paul Glowatski, 18, arrested and charged with Virk's murder. Seven teen girls also face charges ranging from assault to murder. Nov. 22, 1997:Virk's body found by police divers in a shallow tidal pool about one kilometre from where she was last beaten. April-to-May 1998:Six teen girls aged 14 to 16 received sentences ranging from 60 days conditional to one year in jail for their parts in the first beating of Virk. May 10, 1998:Glowatski found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for seven years. March 9, 2000: Ellard trial begins in Vancouver. March 29, 2000: Ellard jurors begin deliberations.

A teenage boy was also charged with second-degree murder. Warren Paul Glowatski was found guilty last year, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years.

Ellard, now 17, can be named because her case was raised to adult court. More than 30 witnesses testified during the three-week trial.

Ten teens said Ellard seemed "happy" and "proud" of what she had done. Prosecutors described her as the most aggressive in the group of girls who attacked Virk.

While reviewing the case in detail for the jury, Madame Justice Nancy Morrison urged jurors to pay close attention to the credibility of witnesses.

In her final instructions, she asked jurors to consider who the witnesses were friends with, and what motives any of them might have to lie.

During the trial, the defence portrayed Ellard as a victim of a conspiracy by a group of young girls trying to protect themselves.

Ellard is automatically sentenced to life in prison. On April 12, the judge will rule on when she'll be allowed to apply for parole.