Former NFL player Sergio Brown from Maywood planned trip to Colombia after allegedly murdering his mother, prosecutors say

A former NFL player from west suburban Maywood was planning a trip to Colombia after he allegedly murdered his 73-year-old mother, prosecutors laid out in court Wednesday.

Sergio Brown, 35, appeared in court Wednesday to face first-degree murder charges for the September death of his mother, Myrtle Simmons-Brown, who prosecutors said he lived with in Maywood.

Brown disappeared in the days after Simmons-Brown was discovered dead 150 feet from the back door of her home, wrapped in a sheet and near a creek. He resurfaced days later in expletive-filled social media videos posted to his accounts in which he called reports tying him to his mother’s death “fake news.”

Three weeks after police found Simmons-Brown’s body, Mexican authorities detained Brown in Mexico City, and he was deported to San Diego, prosecutors said.

Brown, who attended Proviso East High School in Maywood and the University of Notre Dame, was then transported to Maywood Tuesday and formally charged.

A Cook County Public Defender spokesperson declined to comment on Brown’s case.

Prosecutors said Simmons-Brown was last seen alive around 6 p.m. Sept. 14. On that day, her other son said he last spoke with her around 3 p.m., prosecutors said.

The brother began to worry after Simmons-Brown failed to respond to text messages, so for the next two days, he went to the home she shared with his brother. On both days, he saw no signs of forced entry, prosecutors said.

On Sept. 16, the brother returned to the home with Maywood police, and officers found blood on a patio. At that time, both Brown and his mother were considered missing.

Neighbors began to search the area for the mother and son, and that is when the former neighbor made the discovery of Simmons-Brown’s body, prosecutors said. An autopsy determined she died of blunt-force trauma, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A search of Brown’s residence revealed Ajax in a bathtub drain, indicating the tub had recently been cleaned, prosecutors said. His mother’s iPad, credit cards and phone were missing, but her cigarettes were left behind, court documents said.

Cameras in the area captured Brown burning items in a fire pit the evening of Sept. 14, and police later found burned fabric inside of the pit.

Cellphone activity was discovered during the investigation and showed both cellphones of the mother and son pinging together Sept. 14 and 15, before they stopped pinging altogether, prosecutors said.

Brown then purchased a one-way ticket to Cancun, Mexico, around 3 a.m. Sept. 15, and ordered an Uber driver who drove him to the airport, prosecutors said. He flew out of Chicago early Sept. 15.

When Brown was detained by Mexican authorities and deported to San Diego, U.S. Border and Customs Patrol found his mother’s cellphone, iPad and credit cards in a bag Brown was carrying, prosecutors said.

Brown admitted to having his mother’s belongings in his bag, court documents said.

Detectives got warrants on the recovered cards and discovered a charge on one account for $1,797 for an Airbnb in Colombia, and a $1,205 charge for another Airbnb reservation he never used because he was deported, officials said.

DNA evidence taken from his mother’s fingernails matched DNA found on a toothbrush in the Maywood home. Another male’s DNA was discovered, but one sample matched Brown, prosecutors said.

Court records show that Sergio Brown is next scheduled to appear in court at the Maywood Courthouse at 9 a.m. on Nov. 22.