Darrell Brooks Sentenced to Life in Prison for Waukesha Parade Massacre
Darrell Brooks was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with the Waukesha, Wis., Christmas parade massacre.
Brooks drove his car into a crowd during a Christmas parade in November 2021, killing six people and injuring dozens more. Those killed range in age from eight to 81 years old. The sentencing comes after a jury found Brooks guilty of all six counts of first-degree intentional homicide last month. He was convicted on all 76 counts leveled against him, including first-degree recklessly endangering safety, hit-and-run, bail-jumping, and battery.
Waukesha County district attorney Susan Opper said Tuesday that the sentences should be served consecutively. “He has forfeited his right to be in our community, period,” Opper told Judge Jennifer Dorow. “There is not one thing that mitigates this sentence — not one. He deserves the absolute maximum sentence, on all counts, consecutive.”
Dorow agreed, sentencing Brooks to serve six consecutive life sentences. “This community can only be safe if you are behind bars for the rest of your life,” Dorow told Brooks at the sentencing hearing.
Brooks’s family said he has struggled with bipolar disorder since he was twelve years old and court-ordered examinations diagnosed Brooks with antisocial personality disorder. While Brooks and his family attempted to use mental-health issues as a defense for the attack, the judge dismissed the claims, saying he had acted “recklessly, carelessly and maliciously.
“It is very clear to this court that he understands the difference between right and wrong, and he simply chooses to ignore his conscious,” Dorow said. “He is fueled by anger and rage.
“Some people unfortunately choose a path of evil. And I think, Mr. Brooks, you are one of those such persons,” she added.
She said footage from the scene “kept me up at night.”
“I waited for a true apology. I didn’t get it,” she said. “Not for my benefit, but for the victims.”
Brooks was removed from the courtroom twice on Wednesday during the sentencing for disrupting the proceedings. Dorow said Brooks showed a “complete and utter lack of remorse.” He could be seen mocking victims with hand gestures or rolling his eyes.
Dozens of victims and family members spoke at the hearing on Tuesday, including Sheri Spark, whose eight-year-old son Jackson was killed in the parade.
“Do you have any idea how gut-wrenching it is to have to explain to your twelve-year-old son that his little brother isn’t going to make it?” said Sparks, whose older son was also injured in the attack while walking in the parade with his brother and their baseball teammates.
“I miss Jackson every second of every single day,” she said. “I feel gutted and broken. It hurts to breathe sometimes. It hurts to live without him here.”
Brooks spoke for more than two hours before the court, apologizing for the incident and saying it was not “planned.” He also apologized to the judge for his behavior throughout the trial.
“I want everyone to know, also the community of Waukesha, 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. That you cannot see the remorse that I have,” he said.
Brooks had a lengthy rap sheet before the massacre, including an active warrant for his arrest in Nevada, where he was a registered sex offender. Brooks was convicted of statutory sexual seduction in 2006 for impregnating a 15-year-old girl, according to local police.
At the time of the massacre, Brooks was facing multiple pending cases in Milwaukee County involving second-degree reckless endangerment and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to Milwaukee County’s Democratic district attorney, John Chisholm, an “inappropriately low” $1,000 cash bond in the pending cases allowed Brooks to leave jail in a matter of days, after which he drove into the crowd.
