Jury returns verdict in deadly 2023 shooting of Fort Wayne woman

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - Jurors found a 33-year-old Fort Wayne man guilty of murder Friday in a 2023 shooting.

BACKGROUND: FWPD arrest suspect in connection to death investigation near Bloomingdale Park

Sedrick Williams was charged with murder, felony dealing charges and gun-related charges after 34-year-old Vanessa Lynn Brabson was found dead in a vacant lot near Bloomingdale Park.

Williams was out on bond after being charged in the murder of Marlon Kimbrough, for which he is currently scheduled to go to trial in January.

ALSO: Husband, wife killed in separate homicides, coroner says

Two days after Vanessa Brabson’s body was found, her husband, 33-year-old Sean Thomas Brabson, was killed in a shooting near the intersection of South Calhoun Street and Pettit Avenue. Her brother, 35-year-old James Saylor, was convicted of killing her husband.

Saylor was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the slaying. His earliest possible release date is in 2084.

RELATED: Jury finds Fort Wayne man guilty of murder in brother-in-law’s 2023 shooting death | 80-year prison sentence for Fort Wayne man convicted in fatal shooting of brother-in-law

Detectives tied Williams to the crime using cell phone data, which showed his and Vanessa Brabson’s devices traveling together and near where her body was found.

Williams was found guilty on all counts, though his Level 4 felony gun charge was dismissed.

He faces a 117-year maximum sentence. He is set to be sentenced on Nov. 3.

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