Darrell Brooks Jr., the man responsible for killing six after driving his SUV into the Waukesha Christmas parade last year, has been sentenced to life in prison.
According to NBC News, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow sentenced Books on Wednesday on 76 charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of reckless endangerment.
Brooks, 40, will serve a mandatory life sentence per homicide count without the possibility of parole during any portion of those sentences. There was also no chance of Brooks receiving the death penalty as it is not available in Wisconsin.
On November 21, 2021, Brooks drove a speeding Red SUV into a crowd of people marching in the Waukesha Christmas Parade. About six people were killed, including an 8-year-old boy walking with his baseball team and three Dancing Grannies group members, while dozens more were injured.
Before Judge Dorow handed down the life sentences, Brooks claimed that he had suffered from mental illness since his youth and that his actions at the parade were not intentional.
“People are going to, like I said, believe what they want, and that’s OK. This needs to be said: What happened on November 21, 2021, was not, not, not an attack. It was not planned, plotted,” he argued.
“This was not an intentional act,” he continued. “No matter how many times you say it over and over, it was not.”
Brooks also issued his first apology to the victims and their families.
“I want you to know that not only am I sorry for what happened, I’m sorry that you could not see what’s truly in my heart,” he said. “That you cannot see the remorse that I have.”
On Tuesday, victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade spoke at the two-day sentence hearing, and almost all of them urged Dorow to hand down the maximum penalty on Brooks.
“All I ask is you rot, and you rot slow,” Chris Owens, whose mother was among the six killed, told Brooks.
Meanwhile, District Attorney Susan Opper asked Dorow to make each sentence consecutive, so they stack up “just as he stacked victims up as he drove down the road.” Opper also asked that Brooks have zero chance of release on extended supervision.
Both Brooks’ mother and grandmother initially asked the judge if he could be placed in a mental institution instead of prison. Brooks’ mother, Dawn Woods, also called for her son to receive treatment in prison for his mental health issues.
“If they have to stay for the rest of their lives away from society, at least they’re getting the help they need to become mentally well,” she said.
Related:
5 Killed, More Than 40 Injured after SUV Plows through Christmas Parade in Wisconsin
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Jim Vondruska/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
