Memorial service held for Broncos' Williams in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Darrent Williams' family and friends gathered Friday to remember the charismatic Denver Broncos cornerback who escaped the tough streets but never forgot his roots.

Thousands of mourners filed past Williams' copper-colored casket during a memorial service at the Great Commission Baptist Church on Friday night, where Pastor Douglas E. Brown will officiate funeral services Saturday.

Darrent Williams' Broncos jersey is on display at the service. (AP)

Williams was killed and two other passengers wounded when at least 14 shots were fired into the stretch Hummer that had just left a New Year's Eve party. Williams was struck once in the neck.

Denver police said Friday they arrested Willie Clark, 23, on a parole violation and will question him about Williams' slaying.

In Fort Worth, people lined up at two microphones at the big church, which seats 2,500, plus another 800 in an overflow chapel, to tell Williams' family what he meant to them.

A man on a brown mustang trotted up and down the street in front of the church.

Reggie Bracey, wearing a cowboy hat, chaps and spurs and holding a giant Broncos flag aloft, said his son played football with Williams at O.D. Wyatt High School.

"I'm not good at the mushy stuff," Bracey said. "This is my way of saying I'm sorry."

As they entered the church a few miles from where Williams grew up, mourners viewed giant photographs of Williams, one of the NFL's most promising young defensive backs when he was gunned down early Monday in a stretch Hummer limousine following a New Year's Eve party in downtown Denver.

A Broncos helmet sat at the front of the church and Williams' white No. 27 jersey was draped over the altar. Hundreds of people wore replica jerseys, many of them signed by Williams.

Williams was dressed in a black pinstriped suit with an orange tie and white shirt. Viewers filed past his casket for an hour before a choir sang, I'm Trading My Sorrow, and the preacher said the night was for supporting the family so that the funeral could be a celebration of Williams' life.

Before the visitation, dozens of family members and friends gathered at the house where he grew up in the Carter Park neighborhood of Fort Worth.