Waukesha Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow sentenced Darrell Brooks Jr., 40, on 76 counts, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of reckless endangerment. Each manslaughter count carried a mandatory life sentence, and the only uncertainty Wednesday was whether Dorrow would allow Brooks to serve any part of those sentences under extended community supervision, the state’s current version of parole. He did not do it. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty. On Tuesday, as Brooks’ victims gave impact statements in court, nearly all pleaded with the judge to impose the harshest sentence possible. Chris Owens, whose mother was among the dead, told Brooks: “All I ask is that you rot and rot slowly.” Brooks drove his red Ford Escape in the parade in downtown Waukesha on Nov. 21, 2021, after fighting with his ex-girlfriend. Six people were killed, including an 8-year-old boy marching with the baseball team, as well as three members of a group known as the Dancing Grannies. Dozens of others were injured. Families mourn victims of Wisconsin Christmas parade tragedy 09:04 On Wednesday, before the judge handed down her sentence, Brooks told the court that she had suffered from mental illness since she was a child and did not plan to drive the parade route. He also offered his first apology to the dozens of people who were injured or lost loved ones during the incident. Brooks told Dorrow in statements that followed over the past two hours that he grew up fatherless, poor and hungry in rat- and bug-infested tenements. Brooks said he has struggled with mental health issues for as long as he can remember and that he was physically abused, though he did not say specifically by whom. From time to time he took medication and had short stints in a mental health facility, and life was better then, he said. “People are going to believe, like I said, whatever they want, and that’s fine. This has to be said: What happened on November 21, 2021, was not, no, it was not an attack,” Brooks said, later adding: ” This was not an intentional act. No matter how many times you say it over and over, it wasn’t.” Brooks also offered his first apology to the victims and their families. “I want you to know that I’m not only sorry for what happened, I’m sorry that you couldn’t see what’s really in my heart,” she said. “That you can’t see the regrets I have.” But Brooks didn’t explain his motive or offer any other information about what he was thinking as he turned the SUV into the parade. When Dorow asked him what proposal he thought he should get, he didn’t answer directly, but said, “I just want to be helped.” Brooks’ mother and grandmother tried to convince Dorrow to commit Brooks to a mental institution rather than prison. His grandmother, Mary Edwards, said Brooks had been bipolar since he was 12, and that disorder led him to the parade. His mother, Dawn Woods, pressed Dorow to make sure Brooks gets treatment in prison. Memorials placed along Main Street in downtown Waukesha Wisconsin left areas where people were hit by a plowing driver in the downtown Main Street Christmas Parade on November 22, 2021, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images “If they have to spend the rest of their lives away from society, at least they’re getting the help they need to get mentally well,” Woods said. Brooks was seen crying as his mother spoke. Dorrow spent most of Tuesday listening to dozens of victims plead for Brooks to get the maximum sentence. One by one they described frantically searching for their children in the immediate aftermath, the pain their children have endured as they still struggle to recover from their injuries, and the emptiness they feel as they deal with the loss of their dead loved ones. Prosecutor Susan Opper asked Dorrow on Tuesday to make the sentences consecutive so they would be stacked “like he was stacking the victims as he drove down the road,” with no possibility of extended supervised release. Brooks chose to represent himself during his month-long trial, which was marked by his erratic outbursts. He refused to answer his name, frequently interrupted Dorow, and often refused to stop talking. Several times the judge asked bailiffs to move Brooks to another courtroom where he could participate via video, but she was able to mute his microphone when he became disruptive. Dorrow had no choice but to allow Brooks to represent himself, noting that several psychologists found him competent. Brooks apologized to Dorrow for his antics Wednesday, saying he was frustrated during the trial and shouldn’t have taken it personally.
