Nicole Mabon-Brewer's family is speaking out as her estranged husband, former Gary councilman Ron Brewer, pursues a path back onto the city's Common Council, more than a year after she was found dead and months after investigators said they still could not determine how she died. The 47-year-old Gary woman was found dead on September 3, 2025, and an autopsy the next day determined she died of a gunshot wound.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Lake County Coroner's Office ruled her cause of death undetermined on December 9, 2025, concluding there was not enough evidence to say whether it was an accident, a suicide or a homicide. “There is not sufficient evidence or justification as to whether the death was an accident, suicide, or homicide at this time,” the coroner's office said. County court records cited by the same report show Mabon-Brewer had filed for divorce the month before she died, in August 2025.
Investigation Still Active, Headed Toward a Special Prosecutor
The Gary Police Department said in a statement dated September 10, 2025, that the case remained under active investigation, a position Indiana State Police reiterated months later. The paper's report notes that once the investigation wraps up, “the case will be turned over to the special prosecutor assigned to this investigation for review,” according to state police. No timeline for completing that review has been reported.
It's against that unresolved backdrop that FOX 32 Chicago reported that Mabon-Brewer's family is raising concerns about Ron Brewer's potential appointment to a vacant Gary council seat. Brewer previously served on the city's Common Council before losing his primary reelection race in May, and under the terms of that defeat he was only serving out his term through the end of this year, according to Capital B Gary.
A Council Vacancy Created By Another Loss
The seat Brewer was reported to be pursuing opened up for an unrelated reason: the early October death of longtime Gary Councilwoman Mary Brown, which left the city's third-district seat empty. The Times of Northwest Indiana reported that Brewer intended to seek a return to the Common Council by attempting to fill that vacancy, with Council President Linda Barnes-Caldwell confirming his interest to the paper.
The Lake County Democratic Party scheduled a caucus for 6 p.m. tonight to fill the third-district, sixth-district and at-large Gary council seats, with candidates required to file by noon on October 30 to be considered. Capital B Gary reported that Brewer's name was not among the candidates on the list provided by Repay following that filing deadline. The outlet also noted the caucus, held at the Calumet Township Multipurpose Center, is not open to the public.
What Remains Unknown
Several key questions remain open. Investigators have not announced a final determination of how Nicole Mabon-Brewer died, leaving her family, and the city watching Gary's council, waiting for answers on two fronts at once.
