2020 murder trial ends without jury verdict, new dates set

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – The murder trial of a 32-year-old Fort Wayne man ended Thursday with a failed jury verdict.

Sedrick Williams is accused of shooting 40-year-old Marlon Kimbrough near railroad tracks near Meyer Road and Oxford Street.

Charges were filed against Williams in April 2020, but were dropped in December 2021 because a witness was unable to testify. In June 2023, prosecutors refiled charges.

Williams, who was not serving time in prison under Indiana State's Fourth Penal Code, was charged with a second murder in October when police found 34-year-old Vanessa Lynn Brabson dead in a vacant lot near Bloomingdale Park.

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Vanessa Brabson was found dead just two days before her husband, 33-year-old Sean Thomas Brabson, was shot near the intersection of South Calhoun Street and Pettit Avenue.

Last week, jurors found Vanessa Brabson's brother, 34-year-old James Saylor, guilty of the murder of Sean Brabson.

Saylor is scheduled to be sentenced in this case on September 16.

Williams' trial in Kimbrough's death has been postponed until February 11-14. He is charged with murder and faces an enhanced sentence for using a firearm in the incident.

The charges carry a possible maximum sentence of 85 years.

Williams' trial in the Vanessa Brabson case is scheduled for October 22-25. In that case, he faces one count of murder, two counts of drug trafficking and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon.

These charges are punishable by up to 157 years in prison.