Sergio Brown, a former NFL player, pleaded not guilty on Dec. 6 to charges of murdering his mother. The body of his mother, Myrtle Brown, was found on Sept. 16, and her son has been charged with first-degree murder and concealing a homicide.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Brown gave his plea in a Maywood courtroom in front of Cook County Judge
Geary Kull. Brown was allegedly the last person to see his 73-year-old mother, as the two lived together. He was seen burning fabric on Sept. 14, the night that she died, according to prosecutors. Brown traveled to Cancun, Mexico, the next day, after purchasing a one-way ticket.Myrtle’s body was found on Sept. 16 wrapped in a sheet in tall grass less than
200 feet from the home she shared with her son. She was discovered near a creek about 12 miles west of Chicago. A Cook County medical examiner determined that she suffered several injuries from being assaulted. She died from blunt force trauma, and her death was ruled a homicide.Brown was arrested on Oct. 10 after he was found partying in Mexico after his mother died. According to an unidentified law enforcement report
by CNN, he was taken into custody near San Diego after an arrest warrant was issued in Illinois for the former New England Patriots player.Brown played football while attending Proviso East High School in Maywood, his hometown, before graduating to a collegiate career at Notre Dame between 2006 and 2009. He played in the NFL as an undrafted player who was signed by the New England Patriots in 2010. He then went out to play with the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars before being signed by the Atlanta Falcons. After seven days, on August 27, 2016, the Falcons released him; several months later he was picked up by the Buffalo Bills, where he ended his career.