Indianapolis, IN

The increasingly odd tale of ex-Colts Sergio Brown and his murdered mother

Published

11 months ago

September 21, 2023

The increasingly odd tale of ex-Colts Sergio Brown and his murdered mother

An odd tale involving former Indianapolis Colts safety and Notre Dame football player Sergio Brown has captured the nation, as the 35-year-old Brown continues to elude police after the murder of his mother in Illinois over the weekend.

Myrtle Brown, 73, was found dead near a creek behind her suburban Chicago home Sunday. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said she was killed by “multiple injuries due to assault.”

Since his mother’s body was discovered, Brown has been considered a missing person, according to Maywood, Ill., police.

And in another strange twist, videos believed to be Brown have surfaced on social media, with one post to Instagram showing a person believed to be Brown saying, “fake news,” though it’s not clear whether he is referring to his mother’s death.

In another video, allegedly of Brown, posted to his Instagram account, he claimed he was kidnapped by the FBI and that his mother was on vacation. In the videos he also rapped lyrics from a Drake song about dying. “Oh my god, oh my god, if I die, I’m a legend,” Sergio sang in the video to the song “Legend.”

Police told The Associated Press they were aware of the videos and were investigating the “authenticity” of the posts. They have declined to say whether Brown is a person of interest or suspect in connection with his mother’s death.

Authorities became involved when a “concerned” family member filed a missing person report for both Brown and his mother Saturday. When police went to investigate, they found Myrtle Brown’s deceased body less than 100 yards from her Maywood home.

After Myrtle Brown’s death, her son, Nick Brown, made a plea on Facebook.

“Mom, thank you for being strong, caring, diligent, fancy, funny, and for saving my art. I won’t let you down,” Nick Brown wrote. “My brother Sergio is still missing. If anyone knows where he is, I want him to know that I love you and please come home.”

Nick Brown asked anyone who had information to help locate his brother to call police.

Brown, who played for the Colts from 2012 to 2014, was a star defensive back at Notre Dame before he signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played seven seasons in the NFL with the Patriots, Colts, Jaguars and Bills. He played his final season with Buffalo in 2016.

‘Once my mom reminded me, it just felt like it was right’

During his time with the Colts, Brown talked to IndyStar about his mother and how much she meant to him. He had lost his father to cancer in 2002.

As Brown was set to play in his first game for the Colts Oct. 5, 2014, he received a text from his mother.

“12 years to the day,” Myrtle Brown wrote to her son. Brown told IndyStar, at the time, it took him a minute to soak in what his mother was saying. After being on the Colts roster since 2012, he was thinking more about getting to start for the team than the date.

Soon, he realized what his mother was saying. His father had died Oct. 5, 2002, exactly 12 years before.

“Brown went out and had one of the finest days of his career, filling in admirably for suspended free safety LaRon Landry. Brown made three tackles, sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on a critical fourth-down blitz deep in Indianapolis territory, and added a pass deflection,” IndyStar reported after the game. “He was everywhere. He was a difference-maker.”

After the game, Myrtle Brown told her son: “Your dad would have been proud of you.”

“Once my mom reminded me, it just felt like it was right,” Brown said. “Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more it gave me peace of mind. It made me feel like everything was going to be OK. It let me go out there and be free.”

His father, Mario Brown, died from lung cancer that started slowly and then rapidly spread. Brown was a freshman in high school when his dad died. “Once the cancer reached the bone marrow, it was over,” Brown said of his father’s illness.

Mario Brown was the first Black basketball player at Texas A&M, and he played an enormous role in Sergio’s life, Brown told IndyStar in 2014. His father was the dad that knew every kid on the block, the one who would teach them the proper jump shot and free throw form. He was the dad who pushed them to get their education and not take school for granted.

Just before kickoff of that Oct. 5, 2014, Colts game, Brown pulled aside then-head coach Chuck Pagano with a request. He wanted to honor his dad. He wanted to talk with the team. Pagano, a cancer survivor, gave Brown the OK.

“So immediately after the team prayer, and right before the Colts burst onto the field for introductions, Brown shared his story with his teammates and coaches. He told them what the day meant to him,” IndyStar reported. He told them what his father meant to him.

“He spoke from the heart,” cornerback Greg Toler said at the time. “You could tell how much of a big deal it was to him.”

Anyone with information on Brown or his mother’s murder are asked to call the Maywood police anonymous tip line at (708) 450-1787.

USA Today and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via e-mail: dbenbow@indystar.com.

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Indianapolis, IN

BLQ+ Pride Summer Fest returns

Published

6 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a five-year hiatus, the BLQ+ Pride Summer Fest event was held on Monument Circle on Saturday.

The event featured several shopping, entertainment, and eating opportunities.

“They are doing testing, we have food vendors, we have alcohol for the adults, we have folks who are selling merchandise,” said Belinda Drake, president of Indiana Pride of Color. “We have the ice cone shop for the kiddos, too.”

The day is created to honor and celebrate Black, Queer joy in the city and state overall.

One of the vendors who came out to sell items and celebrate alongside the community is Nakeya Harris, the owner of Meraki Mobile Boutique. Her shop carries women’s clothing items, with a specific focus on statement items with bright colors. She also carries jewelry and additional staples.

“I enjoy people expressing themselves and being free, so I wanted to be a part of that,” Harris said.

Local LifeJourney Church was also in attendance at the event. They aim to extend a safe space for worship to anyone interested.

“Today we are trying to reach out to communities of color and just say we have a welcoming space where people can come and be themselves

Though it is the first event of its kind since 2019, the Summer Fest is set to return to Monument Circle next year, and for many years to come.

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Indianapolis, IN

Todd’s Take: Home Cooking? Indiana Needs To Clean Its Big Ten Tournament Plate In Indy

Published

14 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Todd’s Take: Home Cooking? Indiana Needs To Clean Its Big Ten Tournament Plate In Indy

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On Wednesday, white smoke finally hovered over Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., as the conference revealed its future plans for the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

If you’re a Big Ten-mad basketball fan who resides in Indiana, you’re happy. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will host both the men’s and women’s tournaments twice each between 2025 and 2028. The Fieldhouse will host both tournaments in 2025.

Spanning all 3 time zones across the Big Ten!
Here are the hosts for the 2025-2028 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments: https://t.co/lDiAEA5oVI#B1GMBBT l #B1GWBBT pic.twitter.com/clkRFmWP7O
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 31, 2024
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In theory, you’d think having the Big Ten Tournament right in the heart of Hoosier country would create a home-court advantage for the cream-and-crimson. You’d think that Fieldhouse moments would be part of the collective memories of candy-striped fans statewide.

But let’s partake in a short exercise. What is Indiana’s greatest Big Ten Tournament moment in the Circle City in men’s basketball? I’ll give you a moment to think about it.

That’s right, dig deep. Keep mining the recesses of your mind. Why do I hear crickets?

As I clear the cobwebs in my own head, in terms of good things that happened to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy, I can only think of the 2022 run when the Hoosiers saved their NCAA Tournament bacon with a 2-1 performance.

Included were two of the three games Indiana has won by five points or less in Big Ten Tournament games played in Indianapolis – a five-point victory over Michigan and a two-point thriller against top-seeded Illinois. (The other was a 2006 five-point victory over Wisconsin.)

Past that? The cupboard is bare. There are infamous moments that jump to mind, such as former Hoosier Luke Recker’s heart-shattering buzzer-beater for Iowa in a 2002 semifinal in the first Big Ten Tournament played in Indy. Soon-to-be-outgoing coach Archie Miller was lustily booed in the tournament’s lone appearance at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2021.

There is infamy that had nothing to do with Indiana, such as the bizarre 2020 Big Ten Tournament game against Nebraska, where it seemed the entire nation seemingly coalesced during that game to the grim reality that COVID-19 was about to alter all of our lives.

Only in Indiana’s checkered Big Ten Tournament history could the Hoosiers win and not advance.

Past that, Indiana has largely entered and exited anonymously in the Circle City. The Hoosiers’ all-time Big Ten Tournament record in Indy is 7-11. Indiana has beaten a grand total of one ranked foe (No. 16 Illinois, 2022) among those seven victories.

The Hoosiers have had six one-and-done appearances at the Fieldhouse. Even if you exclude the 2008-10 post-probation period when the Hoosiers were mired in losing, that still leaves three other instances where cream-and-crimson tails were firmly planted between legs in front of the home folks.

The women don’t escape scrutiny, either. Indiana’s women have been better than the men – Heather Cassady and Jill Chapman led the Hoosiers to their lone Big Ten Tournament championship at the Fieldhouse in 2002. Teri Moren coached the 2022 team to the championship game at the Fieldhouse. But apart from that? Not much considering the women’s tournament has been played in Indianapolis far more often than the men’s tournament.

Indiana’s women are 19-24 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and have 12 one-and-done appearances.

Indiana fans show their support on a late Indiana run, Thursday, March 10, 2022, during Big Ten tournament men’s action from Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana won 74-69. / Robert Scheer/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

None of this is for lack of enthusiasm at the gate. Every Indiana Big Ten Tournament game I’ve been to in Indianapolis has been a Hoosier Nation takeover. Indiana fans always show up, it’s what they do, but in Indy, it’s almost never reciprocated with on-court success.

So why does Indiana struggle in the Big Ten Tournament in Indy? Part of it is Indiana’s uneven seasons in general since the tournaments began in 1995 (women) and 1998 (men), but even good Hoosiers teams have stumbled in Indy.

The 2016 Big Ten regular season men’s champions are one example as they went one-and-out. Indiana’s 2021 Elite Eight women’s team didn’t win in Indy, either.

Where the men are concerned, perhaps part of it is historical indifference. Bob Knight was famously opposed to the tournament’s very existence and that attitude has possibly settled in among fans who recall his stance.

Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve heard many (any?) Indiana fans put an emphasis on the Big Ten Tournament, apart from seasons where the Hoosiers had to win to get a NCAA Tournament berth. The vibe is that this is a program that has bigger fish to fry, in particular, the elusive sixth banner.

Well, sometimes reality slaps you in the face with the truth that you have to walk before you can run. Indiana’s .395 winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament is only ahead of Northwestern’s among schools that have been in the conference since the inception of the tournament. Let that wash over you.

That dubious distinction alone should spur Indiana fans into giving this tournament a bit more emotional emphasis, but there’s something to be said for the enthusiasm a tournament run generates, too.

I was there for the Purdue men’s win in 2023 in Chicago as well as the Iowa women’s and Illinois men’s wins in 2024 in Minneapolis. The Big Ten Tournament championship didn’t define any of their seasons, but it undoubtedly added some spice.

For the 2024-2025 season, Indiana’s men’s and women’s teams will both be capable of making noise at the Fieldhouse. The in-arena support will be there. Home cooking for the Hoosiers will be served up piping hot.

It’s long past time for the Hoosiers to clean their Big Ten Tournament plate in their home state.

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Indianapolis, IN

Indiana Grown: 8th Day Distillery

Published

21 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Each and every Saturday, WISH-TV highlights a local company together with our partners at Indiana Grown.

This week, Jaime and Matt Lamping with 8th Day Distillery in Indianapolis joined News 8 at Daybreak.

The Lampings share with News 8 what started their passion for the distillery, and elaborate on how Indiana’s state laws at the time impacted their plans.

They also share more about their Bottle Shop & Cocktail Bar, which recently celebrated its sixth anniversary. They discuss their various workshops and show off new releases ready to hit your shelves this year.

Watch the full interview above to learn more.

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