CNN
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Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into a crowd of Christmas parade participants in Waukeshire, Wisconsin last November, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
Brooks, 40, was convicted by a jury last month of all 76 counts attributed to the 2021 Christmas parade attack, including six counts of first-degree intentional murder with a dangerous weapon.
On Wednesday, following two days of impassioned statements from victims and family members, Judge Jennifer Dorough ruled for each of the six counts of intentional homicide in the first degree without the possibility of extended supervision. ordered Brooks to serve a life sentence. Use of dangerous weapons. The judge said the rulings would be carried out in series.
Dorow on Wednesday sentenced Brooks to six life sentences for first-degree intentional murder, plus hundreds of years of additional imprisonment for the remaining 70 counts he was convicted of last month.
She sentenced Brooks to 17.5 years in prison for each of 61 first-degree counts of recklessly endangering safety by using a dangerous weapon.
“You have absolutely no regrets for what you’ve done. You have no empathy for anyone,” Drew told Brooks. is not safe from you,” she continued.
Brooks told the court for more than two hours Wednesday afternoon that he struggled to understand why the tragic incident happened.
“It’s an issue I’m wrestling with myself,” Brooks said. “Why, how. How can life be so far from what it should be? God knows who I am, and I have no words for anger,” he continued.
In his remarks, Brooks, who represented himself, apologized once and for all to the victims and the Waukesha community, and said no one could see the remorse he feels.
“I want you to know that I’m not only sorry for what happened, but I’m sorry that you can’t see what’s in my heart. You can’t see the remorse I have.” “I can’t count the tears I’ve shed this year,” Brooks said in court.
Dorow also spoke at length about Brooks’ mental health, a topic his family discussed at the hearing.
“It’s my opinion that what he did on November 21, 2021 didn’t happen because of mental health issues, and frankly, it didn’t play a role.”
Prosecutors Tuesday asked a judge to sentence Brooks to the maximum penalty for all convictions resulting from the attack.
Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper told the judge, “He deserves the absolute maximum sentence on all counts in a row.”
“You saw the video. This wasn’t going into a large group of 50 people at once and hitting them. It was linear. He hit one and went on. Hit two, go on.” Hit 3, continued, all the way down the street. It justifies piling up successive sentences in the same way that victims piled up when they were in prison,” Opper continued.
Victims and their loved ones were given an opportunity Tuesday to talk about what they’ve lost and what they’ve endured.
Among the more than 40 people who filed statements in court were relatives of Virginia Sorenson, a member of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies troupe that lost three members in the attack, WTMJ reported.
“I will continue to struggle with loss,” Sorenson’s husband, David, said. ”
While some victims speaking in court said they were willing to forgive their killer, Sorenson told the judge, “I will give this evil animal a life sentence and the chance of parole for the ruthless murder of his wife.” Please don’t,” he said.
Dancing grandmothers talk about love for what they do months before parade tragedy
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Alisha Kriti, 52-year-old Jane Kriti’s daughter, who died while attending a parade, said her mother would miss out on so many milestones in the lives of her, her siblings, and Jane Kriti’s grandchildren. The station reported that he lamented that it would become.
“She can’t see me take vows or marry the love of my life.”And she’ll never see my future children.
In addition to Sorenson and Creech, Jackson Sparks, 8, Tamara Durand, 52, Lee Owen, 71, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81, died. During the parade, Sparks was walking with his baseball team. Durand and Owen, along with Sorenson, were Dancing Granny, and Hospel was the husband of Dancing Granny, who survived the attack.
Prosecutors produced evidence showing that Brooks deliberately drove through the crowd. In the criminal complaint, the officer who stepped in front of Brooks’ car and ordered him to stop said Brooks “looked directly at him and there seemed to be no emotion on his face.”
According to the complaint, the SUV accelerated past the officer, stopped at an intersection, then accelerated again, then started to zig-zag with screeching tires and flew “objects and objects,” another witness said. said Brooks was trying to avoid the car. I didn’t try to slow down.
In a tearful closing statement, Brooks speculated what would happen if the car broke down and couldn’t stop and the driver panicked. He claimed there was a recall on the car he was driving, but Drew deleted the statement from his records.
“He reached speeds of about 30 miles per hour. It was on purpose,” the district attorney said. “He plowed 68 different people. Sixty-eight. How can he hit one and keep going? How can he hit two RBIs and keep going?”
The jury also returned 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon, 6 counts of fatal hit-and-run, 2 counts of jumping on bail for a felony, and 1 count of a misdemeanor. For the prosecutor, it was a clean sweep.
In June, Brooks filed a plea of not guilty on the grounds of insanity, but the public defender withdrew it in September. allowed to represent
He was belligerent and destructive at trial, often speaking of drow and making outlandish arguments. Dorow sometimes put his Brooks in another room where he could join via a monitor and was muted unless it was his turn to speak. Brooks was sent to that room twice on Wednesday after discussing it with the judge because the judge requested a suspension.
SUV crashes into marching band at Wisconsin holiday parade
Brooks’ mother, Dawn Woods, expressed concern over her son’s inability to defend himself and asked the judge not to allow it.
According to WTMJ, “He’s not mentally stable enough to fully understand the big mistake he’s making in wanting to express himself,” she said. You should know you don’t.”
Brooks was charged with domestic abuse and released from prison on $1,000 bail two weeks before the parade. was accused as Prosecutors later admitted that his bail was “inappropriately low.”
