Illinois woman pleads not guilty to 4-year-old's murder

JONESBORO, Ill. -- The Ware, Ill., woman accused of killing a 4-year-old boy and trying to cover it up pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Sacha Brown, 29, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery and concealment of a homicidal death.

An autopsy revealed that Justin Hepburn suffered a four-and-a-half-inch skull fracture before his Dec. 11 death, Union County State's Attorney Tyler Edmonds said.

If convicted, Brown faces up to 100 years in prison for the murder charge, up to 30 years for the battery charge and up to five years for the concealment charge.

Brown pleaded not guilty before Judge William Thurston in Union County Circuit Court on Wednesday and will go on trial March 12. The imminent trial date comes as part of Illinois' Speedy Trial Act of 1974, which dictates that a person in custody is entitled to a trial within 120 days of being arrested.

Brown is in the Union County Jail on a $400,000 bond with a 10 percent cash provision. Brown and her lawyer, Larry Karraker, tried to get her bond reduced from $750,000 to $50,000 Dec. 28, but Thurston lowered it to the current amount. Brown's family is trying to raise money to post the $40,000 cash the $400,000 requires, Karraker said, noting that he may try to get Brown's bond reduced again.

Brown's father, Bobby Joe Jackson, and other members of her family declined to comment, while Brown remained silent as she walked from the courthouse back to the jail after the hearing.

The only time Brown has spoken publicly was when she answered questions from Edmonds and Karraker at her bond reduction hearing. During that hearing, Brown asserted her innocence and claimed investigators tried to get her to confess to killing Justin.

Karraker said he knows little about the case because he had received its pertinent files a half-hour before Brown's arraignment.

"You know more than I do," Karraker told members of the media after the hearing.

Karraker said he received Justin's autopsy results two days ago.

Although unable to analyze much of the evidence, Karraker said he would bring in an expert witness to examine the forensics and pathology of the gathered evidence.

"We'll see if anything he finds coincides with the case," he said.

Karraker said that, per court rules, he could not talk specifically about the evidence against Brown. Files containing search warrants, discovery documents and probable-cause statements are sealed, and Edmonds was vague when talking about evidence at Brown's bond reduction hearing Dec. 28.

Despite claiming to not know much about the case, Karraker said he believed Brown was innocent because she told him so.

"She's never lied to me," Karraker said, noting that he has known Brown for roughly 10 years.

Karraker said after Brown's bond reduction hearing that there is no evidence that implicates her as the killer and that there has been a "rush in judgment" about the case.

On Wednesday, Karraker acknowledged the notoriety the case has received and he's considering asking for a change of venue.

Brown will be back in court for a pretrial conference Feb. 1.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Jonesboro, IL

Ware, IL