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CHICAGO -- A 34-year-old man was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the shooting death of the friend and bodyguard of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson at a night club, authorities said.

Michael Selvie of Chicago is accused of shooting 26-year-old Willie B. Posey once in the arm during an early morning fight Dec. 16 inside Ice Bar, a club in the city's trendy River North neighborhood.

On Friday, A judge refused to set bail for Selvie.

Lt. Anthony Riccio, acting commander of the Chicago Police Area 3 detective division, alleged Selvie bumped into Johnson next to the bar's dance floor and had a "brief discussion" with the player before getting into a fight with Posey and pulling a handgun. The handgun has not been recovered.

"We have no indication that Posey and Selvie knew each other or had any contact with each other prior to this incident," Riccio said.

Attorney Jayne Ingles, who is representing Selvie, told reporters her client "had nothing to do with this at all."

Riccio described Selvie as a "reputed gang member" whose criminal record contains 30 arrests, including 12 for felonies, and seven felony convictions. Most of Selvie's convictions were drug-related, police spokeswoman Kristina Schuler said. The Illinois Department of Corrections Web site shows Selvie was paroled in April.

Selvie was charged based on several things, Riccio said, including forensic evidence from the scene and witness identifications in photographic and physical lineups. Riccio acknowledged Johnson viewed a lineup at the police station Wednesday, but declined to say whether the player had identified Selvie.

Ingles declined to comment on whether her client was at Ice Bar the night of the shooting but argued Selvie has no ties to gangs and does not own or carry a gun.

As for evidence recovered from the scene, Ingles said, "I'd like to see it."

Selvie's mother and friends who stood with Ingles declined to comment. The attorney said Selvie sought her out Tuesday after learning police were looking for him and turned himself in that evening.

Selvie is due to appear in bond court Friday, said Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Johnson and Posey had gone to the bar less than 48 hours after Johnson was charged with six counts of possession of a firearm without a gun owner identification card when police found six guns in a raid on his home in Gurnee. Posey, who also was living there, was arrested on felony drug charges.

Friends said Posey was at the nightclub serving as a bodyguard for Johnson. Both Posey and Johnson played football at McClintock High School in Tempe, Ariz.

The Dec. 14 arrest was the third in 18 months for Johnson, who publicly apologized the next day and got a warning from general manager Jerry Angelo before going to the bar that night. Johnson was inactive for the game against Tampa Bay that weekend.

The Bears then suspended Johnson for last Sunday's game against Detroit for going to the club.

Riccio said police don't think Johnson was a target of the shooting and added that "there's been no link established between this incident and the execution of the search warrant at his home in Gurnee or the arrest in Gurnee."

Johnson's attorney, Lorna Propes, said Thursday night that the player "obviously is still grieving for the loss of his close friend and wants to see the killer brought to justice."

"He is glad that police have made an arrest," said Propes, adding that Johnson wouldn't be making any public statments about the ongoing investigation.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press