Waukesha parade killer Darrell Brooks gets SIX consecutive life sentences for running over people

Waukesha parade killer Darrell Brooks was sentenced to six life terms after pleading guilty to the same number of counts of intentional manslaughter.

He was removed from the courtroom at least twice while awaiting sentencing for killing six people, with the judge breaking down in tears after reading his victim’s stories.

Brooks, 40, faces life in prison after a circuit court jury in Waukesha, Wisconsin found him guilty on Oct. 26 of 76 counts, including six counts of willful homicide.

Judge Jennifer Dorow, who clashed with the self-representing Brooks throughout the trial, burst into tears after recalling seeing scenes of what happened.

Dorow read the names of each of the victims as “a life sentence for” them when she sentenced him.

It came after Brooks said prior to sentencing Wednesday that he had suffered from a mental illness since childhood and had no intention of riding the parade route. He also issued his initial apology to the dozens of people who were injured or lost loved ones in the incident.

She said, “It’s hard not to think about what I’ve seen and not have this reaction.”

Brooks and Dorow clashed again, with Dorow again having to adjourn to remove him from court after Brooks interrupted her, accusing the judge of lying and saying he didn’t agree to the whole process.

He was eventually readmitted to sentencing, only to be removed one more time, with Dorow explaining that she wanted to give him his constitutional right to be present at sentencing.

Brooks, 40, faces life in prison after a circuit court jury in Waukesha, Wisconsin, found him guilty of 76 counts on Oct. 26, including six counts of willful homicide

Judge Jennifer Dorow, who clashed with the self-representing Brooks during the trial, burst into tears after recalling seeing scenes of what happened

Brooks told Dorow in comments over the past two hours that he grew up fatherless, poor and hungry in apartment buildings filled with rats and bugs.

He said he has been dealing with mental health issues and physical abuse for as long as he can remember, but did not say by whom. Sometimes he took meds and did short stints in mental health facilities and life was better then, he said.

“People, like I said, are going to believe what they want, and that’s okay. This has to be said: what happened on November 21, 2021 was no, no, no attack. It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t plotted,” Brooks said, later adding, “This was not an intentional act. No matter how many times you repeat it, it wasn’t.’

Brooks also issued his initial apology to the victims and their families.

“I want you to know that I’m not only sorry for what happened, but I’m sorry you couldn’t see what was really going on in my heart,” he said. “That you can’t see the remorse I feel.”

Although Brooks chose to represent himself at his trial, his repeated interruptions, outbursts and erratic behavior led to his removal from the courtroom and Judge Jennifer Dorow admitting she feared him.

In his closing remarks, Brooks said that “my conscience is clear” and that he has “made peace with God” — even shockingly saying it was “God’s will” for it to happen — before the jury was sequestered at 6:24 p.m. local time while he appeared crying.

The judge allowed him to deliver his closing arguments to the jury in person last week.

In the course of the trial, prosecutors uncovered how on November 21, Brooks deliberately drove his SUV through police barricades and into crowds participating in the annual parade in the city of Waukesha, about 15 miles west of downtown Milwaukee.

He was out on bail on domestic violence charges at the time of the attack and was arrested near the crime scene.

Darrell Brooks poses for a Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office booking photo after being taken into custody for driving his car into a parade

Once in another courtroom, 40-year-old Darrell Brooks appeared shirtless and repeatedly turned his back to the camera

Brooks also tucked a laminated sign reading “objection” into the waistband of his orange prison uniform after the judge muted his microphone so she could read his 77 charges without interruption.

Brooks has since been in custody and had pleaded not guilty to the charges, announcing in court that his “conscience was clear” and suggesting the death was “God’s will,” even as he wiped away a tear.

Brooks had elected to represent himself at his trial, but his repeated interruptions, outbursts, and other erratic behavior eventually led Judge Jennifer Dorow to remove him from the courtroom, later admitting she feared him.

He has taken his shirt off in a courtroom and also made a laminated paper that read “objection,” which he revealed after the judge cut off his microphone.

He had tried to argue in court that his SUV had been recalled due to a throttle malfunction, saying he had no intention of hurting anyone and noting that he honked his horn as he drove through the crowd.

When District Attorney Sue Opper objected, noting that a Wisconsin State Patrol vehicle inspector had testified earlier in the trial that the vehicle was in good working order, including the brakes, he suggested that the driver may have panicked.

He didn’t fully acknowledge he was the driver at the time, but said that at night, when he’s alone in his cell, he often asks how “this” happened.

Yet, he said, he never questioned whether “this” was intentional, saying he knew it wasn’t. He didn’t explain what he was referring to by using the word ‘this’.

The six killer victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade

Darrell Brooks faces life in prison after a circuit court jury in Waukesha, Wisconsin found him guilty on Oct. 26 of 76 counts, including six counts of willful homicide.

The fatalities were Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, Wilhelm Hospel, 81, and Jackson Sparks, 8.

Four of the six killed were members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.

Brooks’ motive remains unknown.

Jane Kulich, left, was a Citizen Bank employee who was walking a float before being fatally hit. The sixth victim of the tragedy was Jackson Sparks, 8

Tamara Durand (left), 52, and Leana ‘Lee’ Owen (right), 71, were two members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies