Waukesha Christmas Parade Suspect Darrell Brooks Charged With 5 Counts Of Intentional Homicide, Bail Set At $5 Million
Nov. 23 2021, Published 6:58 p.m. ET
Darrell Brooks, the man who is suspected of crashing his vehicle into the Waukesha Christmas parade leaving numerous people dead and even more injured, has reportedly been charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide. His bail has been set at $5 million.
According to the Associated Press, Brooks was charged on Tuesday with intentional homicide for each of the 5 people who died when he allegedly drove his red Ford SUV into them during a holiday parade on Sunday evening. The 39-year-old suspect also reportedly injured 62 people in the tragic incident.
According to prosecutors, a sixth individual, a child, also died from their injuries.
If found guilty of even one charge of intentional homicide, Brooks will face a mandatory life sentence in prison – which is reportedly Wisconsin’s strictest penalty.
According to the outlet, Brooks was heard crying during his appearance in court today when the charges were being read. He was reportedly sitting with his head in his lap while his attorney put a hand on his back.
As RadarOnline.com reported yesterday, Brooks was released from prison on bond only two days before allegedly driving his car into the Waukesha parade.
He made bail on Friday night after allegedly intentionally running over the mom of his child on November 2. The bail for that incident was reportedly set at $1,000.
“He was accused of running over the mother of his kid, and to put it at $1,000 strikes me as low,” Julius Kim, a defense attorney, said about the low bail at the time. “It could have been an inexperienced attorney who happened to be reviewing cases that day.”
Reports that Brooks was released on a $1,000 bail only two days before allegedly getting behind the wheel of an SUV and ramming into a Christmas parade has many people wondering how and why he was released from jail to begin with.
“I’m sure the district attorney’s office is going to look back at this and ask themselves, ‘Did we get this wrong?’” said John Gross, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“This is such an extreme incident. Could they reasonably expect he would get behind a vehicle and run people down on a parade route? What would have alerted you to the capacity he would have had for this kind of violence?”
Although Brooks was charged with 5 counts of intentional homicide earlier today, he is expected to get slapped with multiple other charges in the coming days and weeks.