The jury has reached a verdict in the homicide trial of Darrell Brooks Jr., who faces 76 criminal charges related to a massacre where he is accused of driving an SUV into a crowd at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last November.
Six people were killed in the attack, and dozens more were injured. Brooks faces six counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the Christmas parade attack and faces up to six life sentences if convicted. Brooks pleaded not guilty to all counts against him.
The jury started deliberations late Tuesday night, coming to a decision Wednesday morning.
Brooks attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but he withdrew the insanity plea last month. His attorneys then filed a motion to remove themselves from the case, prompting Brooks to ask to represent himself instead. Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow granted the request last week, ruling that Brooks possessed “the minimal competency necessary to conduct his own defense.”
Brooks’s trial began earlier this month as prosecutors sought to prove Brooks intentionally drove his car through the crowd at significant speeds with “utter disregard for human life.”
“He reached speeds of approximately 30 mph. That’s intentional,” Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said during the trial. “He plowed through 68 different people — 68. How can you hit one and keep going? How can you hit two and keep going?”
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Brooks’s trial was deemed unusual because he chose to represent himself in court, asking vague questions and repeatedly interrupting prosecutors as they made their arguments. Dorow has removed him from the courtroom several times throughout the trial.
The deliberations come less than a year after Brooks crashed through a crowd at Waukesha’s Christmas parade on Nov. 21, 2021, killing an 8-year-old boy who was in attendance as well as several members of the “Dancing Grannies” group.
This story is developing and will be updated.
