Ex-NFL Player Seen Burning Items After Mother's Death: Prosecutors

MAYWOOD, IL — Former NFL player Sergio Brown is being held in the Cook County Jail after appearing in court on Wednesday on first-degree murder stemming from the slaying of his mother, who was found dead in the backyard of her Maywood home in September.

Brown, who played at Proviso East High School and Notre Dame before his NFL career, was arrested on Oct. 10 on murder charges in connection with his mother, 73-year-old Myrtle Brown. On Wednesday, prosecutors formally charged the former football player and outlined their case against Brown, who was arrested after being found in Mexico weeks after his mother's death.

In addition to first-degree murder charges, Brown has been charged with concealing the death of his mother from authorities. Brown's public defender argued in court on Wednesday that the evidence in the case is circumstantial and requested he be released, but a judge deemed Brown a flight risk and ordered him held in jail until his next court appearance.

Myrtle Brown was found dead in her backyard in Maywood in mid-September, and Sergio Brown was reported missing. Cook County medical officials said that Myrtle Brown died from multiple injuries related to assault, and her manner of death has been ruled a homicide.

Court documents show that Myrtle Bown's other son became worried after he did not hear from his mother after Sept. 14. Prosecutors said that on Sept. 16, Nick Brown went to his mother's home, where Myrtle and Sergio Brown lived by themselves, to find no one at home.

Prosecutors said that there was no sign of forced entry but said Nick Brown returned to the home later in the days after police said they found blood on the back patio of the home. A neighbor then found the woman dead and wrapped in a sheet between 100 and 150 feet from her home, according to court documents.

Cook County medical officials determined that Myrtle Brown died from blunt force trauma and ruled her death a homicide.

During their investigation, police searched the home and found Ajax in the bathroom tub drain, which they surmised could have been there after it had been recently cleaned, court documents said. Police said that Myrtle Brown's iPad, credit cards and phone were missing, but that her cigarettes had been left behind.

Police said video surveillance showed footage of Sergio Brown burning items in a fire pit on the evening of Sept. 14. Police later found burnt fabric in this same fire pit.

The phones of Sergio and Myrtle Brown pinged together on Sept. 14 and 15, when they stopped pinging altogether, according to court documents. Authorities said that Sergio Brown booked a one-way ticket to Cancun on Sept. 15 at around 3 a.m.

An Uber driver drove the offender to the airport early on Sept. 15, and he flew out of Chicago early in the morning on Sept. 15, court documents show.

Brown had appeared in social media posts that were traced to Mexico. The social media videos published on his platforms included messages saying that he was being targeted by police.

CNN reported earlier this month that Mexican authorities had known about Brown’s whereabouts since Sept. 19 and had been working to get him deported in connection with his mother’s death.

On October 7, Mexican authorities detained Sergio Brown in Mexico City, and he was deported to San Diego. US Customs and Border Patrol out of San Diego Myrtle Brown's cell phone, iPad, and numerous credit and bank cards in her son's name from a bag that the offender was carrying, according to court documents.

Detectives secured multiple search warrants on the recovered credit cards, revealing that a purchase had been made on Myrtle Brown’s Capital One Venture card in the total of $1,797 for an Air BnB in Medellín, Colombia on Sept. 21.

Another purchase had been made from the same card in the total of $1,205.05 for another Air BnB reservation on Oct. 6. Sergio Brown was deported from Mexico prior to being able to travel to Colombia, documents show.

DNA analysis was conducted on a sample from underneath Sergio Brown's fingernails and a toothbrush found in his bedroom by examining locations on the Y Chromosome called YSTRs. A mixture of two males was identified from the fingernail sample.

A single male DNA profile was identified from the toothbrush, authorities said. The male donor from the toothbrush is included as a possible donor of the major male YSTR DNA profile from the fingernail sample, documents showed.

Prior to Sergio Brown's arrest, Nick Brown posted on Instagram, criticizing the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office’s handling of his mother’s death investigation.

“The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is not upholding public safety or justice for my mom, Myrtle Jean Simmons-Brown,” his post reads. “My mom is gone, my dad is gone, and my brother is missing. It’s not about saving face its (sic) about saving justice.”

On Tuesday, Sergio Brown was transported from San Diego to Maywood. Detect The defendant admitted going to Mexico and carrying the victim’s belongings with him.

Brown is due back in court on Nov. 22.