Sergio Brown and Myrtle Brown.Photo:Dan Mullan/Getty Images; Family Handout
Dan Mullan/Getty Images; Family Handout
Former NFL player Sergio Brown, who wasarrested in connection with his mother’s death, has been denied a pretrial release, according to several outlets.
Prosecutors alleged during his court appearance on Wednesday that Brown, 35, was the last person seen with his mother, Myrtle Brown, and he had booked a one-way ticket to Cancun, Mexico following her death, according to theChicago Sun-Timesand theAssociated Press. He faces charges of first-degree murder and concealing a homicide.
The Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Jose Villarreal said in court that the former footballer had been seen burning fabric the night of his mother’s death on Sept. 14 and then flew out to Mexico the next morning, per theChicago Sun-Times.
Villarreal also noted, per the outlet, that when police searched Myrtle’s home, they found blood on the back patio and some Ajax cleaner in the bathtub that suggested it had been cleaned. She said Sergio and Myrtle’s cellphone locations also pinged at the same location at the estimated time of her death, per the AP.
Public defender Robert Fox, who is representing Sergio, said in court that no one witnessed the alleged crime. “There’s no direct evidence, it’s all circumstantial,” Fox said, per the AP.
Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez denied Brown a pretrial release until his next court date on Nov. 22, per the AP andABC News.
Sergio was then taken into custody in San Diego, Calif., on Oct. 10, while “re-entering” the United States after being in Mexico, according to the Maywood Police Department in Illinois.
Days after his mother’s death, disturbing social media videos appearing to be Sergio began to surface. Onevideowas posted on an Instagram account with the username “intplayerwithapassport." (The account is no longer active.)
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In the since-deleted video, Sergio said he thought Myrtle was “on vacation,” and that “it had to be the FBI or Maywood PD,” without explicitly stating what “it” referred to. Two days later, he appeared in another video on the same Instagram account, singing a Drake song and making references to dying.
Sergio played in the NFL for six seasons, signing with the New England Patriots in 2010 and retiring following the 2016 season, during which he played for the Bills.
source: people.com
