Darrell Brooks sentenced to six consecutive life terms, and hundreds of additional years, for the Waukesha Christmas Parade attack
WAUKESHA - Darrell Brooks will spend life in prison six times over for the death and injuries he caused in the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade attack.
His sentencing Wednesday closed a tragic book in Waukesha's history, something city officials addressed Thursday amid of summary of news events involving Brooks and upcoming holiday events one year following the 2021 incident.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow on Wednesday formally sentenced Brooks to consecutive life sentences for first-degree intentional homicide, with no chance of parole, in the deaths of Tamara Durand, Wilhelm Hospel, Jane Kulich, Leanna Owen, Virginia Sorenson and Jackson Sparks.
She also sentenced Brooks to 17? years for each of the 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, or a total of 762 years of initial confinement and 305 years of extended supervision; and 25 years each for the six hit-and-run counts running concurrent to the reckless endangerment charges.
In all, beyond his life sentences, he was sentenced to more than 1,200 years, including extended supervision.
For each life sentence given for the six deceased victims, the gallery, mainly consisting of victims of the tragedy, erupted into applause. While Dorow allowed the applause for those who died in the attack, she asked that they remain quiet for the rest of the sentencing. Despite the gallery's applause, their faces remained somber, many sniffing back tears.
One day after loved ones and victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy presented impact statements ahead of the sentencing of Brooks, Brooks himself spoke for more than two hours in his final statement to the court.
More than 40 victims and family members of victims either took to the stand or submitted written statements, almost all directly addressing Brooks angrily and bluntly. Most also asked Dorow to ensure Brooks would live out his life in prison, with some wishing him only pain for the lives he took or shattered.
Six people died and at least another 61 others were injured when a red Ford Escape driven by Brooks tore through the holiday parade on Nov. 21, 2021. The attack left in its wake what police called a "chaotic" atmosphere as authorities and others scrambled to help victims over a four-block stretch.
Brooks, 40, of Milwaukee was convicted on Oct. 26 on all 76 criminal charges he faced in the parade attack trial: six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety, six counts of hit-and-run causing death, two counts of bail jumping and one misdemeanor count of battery.
Brooks' 18-day trial represented the end of a long legal process that included dramatic shifts, beginning with charges filed two days after the parade and continuing with pretrial hearings just days before the trial began. The trial was replete with disruptions and delays from Brooks, who decided just days before the proceedings began that he would represent himself.
City officials speak about relief and healing
As a follow-up to Wednesday's sentencing, three city officials gathered in Waukesha City Hall as part of an invitation to local media to simultaneously question them on related topics. Collectively, they said they were relieved justice has been served and the community can "move forward."
They also said they hope the healing can begin. They expressed satisfaction over Brooks' lifetime sentences and want the city to press on following the completion of the trial and the one-year remembrance ceremony taking place Monday as well as the lighting festival Dec. 2 and Christmas parade Dec. 4.
"What stood out for me was the sentencing," said Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly, reflecting on key moments of the trial. "That's really the only thing I watched (of the trial). ... It was pretty much a foregone conclusion about what the net result, but listening Judge Dorow go through her reasoning and her sentencing made me feel good."
Reilly noted he wasn't personally affected as deeply as victims, but still felt relief, as did many of the people he spoke to who had testified. "Just getting past the trial, it does help, I think, the entire community heal."
For people, such as those families who presented victim impact statements, who still retain anger and hatred for Brooks, Reilly encouraged them to seek help and counseling to work through their deep feelings.
"Anger and hatred is a natural reaction," he said. "Many people heard me say this, but my advice to people was don't watch the trial. It (wasn't) going to help you. For me, it didn't help. It made me very angry, to see what happened. But, hopefully, hatred and anger will give way to thinking of yourself and making yourself happy."
Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson, who experienced the tragedy in his first full year on the job, acknowledged the recovery process isn't over for his staff.
"It's still affecting us," Thompson said, adding that he expects the trauma of 2021 will resurface on the anniversary. "Our officers are traumatized. ... It was a war zone."
He said the sentencing and the sense of justice have helped, but the officers also needed counseling, helping them realize it was "OK to hurt." He said the same is true for victims and others still struggling.
More:For shop owners along Waukesha parade route, Darrell Brooks verdict never in doubt.
Brooks' mother Dawn Woods and his grandmother Mary Edwards said he suffers from mental illness and should be treated for it
Prior to sentencing Wednesday, several relatives and friends, including Brooks' mother Dawn Woods, spoke on Brooks' behalf.
Speaking remotely via Zoom, Woods called her son "broken," not an uncaring person, despite his courtroom actions and the charges he faced.
"Mental illness affects everyone. It destroys lives and affects family," Woods said. "It is of no fault of their own that they are ill, and began to change as a person."
She acknowledged that people who act maliciously out of mental illness should be held accountable, but through medication, therapy and special institutions. Woods said people need to show empathy and compassion in that regard.
"I have been dealing with mental illness for some 30-odd years now, and here's my take on it," Woods said. "Jail is not the answer."
Mary Edwards, Brooks' grandmother, said she asked to speak for two reasons: to apologize to those hurt by Brooks' actions in the parade, particularly the family of Jackson Sparks, and to ask for forgiveness.
"Darrell has lost his mind and his life in the outside world," Edwards said, and explained Brooks has suffered from bi-polar disorder for many years.
Michele Alworth, a close friend who remembered better times with Brooks, said she suffers from medical problems, and Brooks assisted her with her needs, including in emergency situations. She saw a different person than the man convicted by jurors.
Saying Brooks had a manic episode that he has blocked out of his memory, Alworth said she hopes "he gets the help he needs for his mental illness" in a qualified institution.
Darrell Brooks speaks for nearly two hours about his struggles and beliefs
In tears since his mother's comments, Brooks spoke softly and slowly when given the chance to speak on his own behalf, choosing to address victim statements and his own infamy.
In a rambling nearly two-hour statement, his focus at first remained on victims' comments from Tuesday, including things "I have struggled with myself."
The gallery was at capacity, and a group formed outside the courtroom's doors. After an hour passed of Brooks' statement, they began to whisper to each other, wondering how long he would be allowed to continue.
Reaffirming his Christian beliefs, and occasionally quoting from the Bible, he said he wanted to clarify what he meant in closing statements when he said his "conscience was clear." He wanted people to know he was repentant.
"I made a decision to rededicate myself to Christ when this tragedy happened," Brooks said. "I have repented, that I have asked God for forgiveness."
Brooks also said he wasn't trying to "hide" the person he is and from what happened.
"I want everyone to know, including the community of Waukesha, not only am I sorry for what happened, but that you could not see what was truly in my heart ... and all the tears that I dropped," he said.
But, he added: "It's not me who can take any pain away, replace what is lost and bring back joy. I think all that comes with belief in Christ, and all that comes with time. It's a process that we all have to go through."
His frustration in not being able to defend himself caused him to act out in court, Brooks said, adding that he has struggled throughout his life with various issues, including physical abuse "by the people that are supposed to love you," and "trying to understand why your mind works like the way it does."
Flashes of his anger, seen often during the trial and in hearings immediately preceding it, returned as he raised his voice to say the parade incident "was not, not, not an attack. ... This was not an intentional act."
Addressing prosecutors, particularly Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper, Brooks said he wanted to take the "high road" while expressing his frustrations about some of their statements. "It's not easy being the most hated man on this planet," he said, adding later, "I'm a human being, not a monster."
Dorow twice asked Brooks after long intervals if he wished to comment on his sentencing following his conviction.
Pressed for an answer, Brooks said he wanted to be sentenced somewhere he could be medicated to remove the "pain" he continues to struggle with mentally, and "to not be put in a place to just be forgotten about."
Brooks' attempts to prove that his actions were unintentional were met with disgusted grimaces from the gallery, many releasing stifled laughter.
Judge Jennifer Dorow refutes mental illness claims and more in sentencing
Then it was Dorow’s turn to address the case in a three-hour preamble to sentencing.
Because of the nature of the comments Wednesday, she began with the claims by Brooks and his family about mental illness as the root cause of the parade incident.
Noting that Brooks had at one point pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect — a plea he ultimately withdrew — Dorow said she has read through four reports from medical psychology experts about his mental state that were initially prepared because his insanity plea.
For the first time, she confirmed none of those reports supported that special plea.
"I don’t want there to be any doubt that this trial was missing something," Dorow said, noting that one report was 24 pages that examined a variety of records, including mental health documents. "I have absolutely no doubt that Mr. Brooks is competent. That was something I was not worried about at any time during this trial."
Many in the gallery vehemently nodded in agreement.
Dorow noted that his previous mental health reports indicated an anti-social personality disorder, not a state of mental illness that would have contributed to the parade incident. Quoting from one report, she noted that a doctor had noted “his lack of remorse” and lack of respect "for the rights of others."
"There is no medication for people who do evil," Dorow said, adding that Brooks clearly understands right and wrong but “is fueled by his rage. ... The bottom line is that none of that caused you to do what you did on Nov. 21, 2021."
Dorow also addressed the particulars of the parade incident, based in part on evidence presented at trial, starting with the Frame Park incident with his ex-girlfriend that triggered his anger.
That anger became evident when Brooks began shouting at Dorow during her findings as part of sentencing, yelling over her when she tried to address Brooks' violent relationship involving his ex, whom he continued to discredit. (He was removed to a neighboring courtroom as a result.)
Dorow, among other points, noted his decision not to use safe escape routes to avoid injuries to parade participants at anytime. But as she spoke, reviewing video evidence, Dorow herself broke into tears as she revisited the severe injuries to children in and around the parade.
"These are just some of the highlights, I should call them lowlights, about what people testified," she said, with one piece of evidence coming to mind: "When Jane Kulich was on (Brooks') vehicle, and then he braked to get her off that vehicle, to run her over again."
Dorow also shot back on Brooks' repeated statements about not understanding the criminal proceedings, part of his sovereign citizen defense. She called his approach before and during the trial "sophisticated" and "nuanced," showing not only his competency but his deep knowledge of the law.
The impact on the city of Waukesha, as spelled out by those victims who spoke Tuesday, was also part of Dorow's presentencing statements. At times, she spoke directly to victims in the gallery, including the Xtreme Dance Team and Waukesha South marching band member and victim Tyler Pudleiner and his mother, Katti Pudleiner, calling him a "phoenix" rising from the ashes.
The Pudleiners nodded gratefully, Katti wiping away tears. Xtreme Dance Team members cried when Dorow thanked Alyssa Gajewski, their coach, for her emotional testimony.
"What did this community suffer as a result of this tragedy?" Dorow asked. "I think Lori Lochen said it best: 'The loss of a sense of personal safety.'"
As she reviewed the victim statements by the Sparks family, Dorow again was moved to tears. "It was difficult to even watch them make their statements," she said, her voice again breaking.
She referenced Tucker Sparks', brother of deceased victim Jackson Sparks, survivor's guilt, which his mother mentioned in her statment. "It's not your fault, Tucker," Dorow said. "It's Mr. Brooks' fault."
Victims in the courtroom comforted each other, rubbing each other's backs and resting their heads on each other's shoulders.
Judge Jennifer Dorow waited for 'a true apology' from Brooks to the victims and never got it
Stating that her sentencing decisions "are not about Mr. Brooks' conduct during this trial," Dorow said her focus was his actions on Nov. 21, 2021, "moments that are tragic, moments that were frankly avoidable" and his attempts to flee after striking close to 70 people.
With Brooks once more removed from the courtroom, again for arguing with her when she tried to begin the sentencing phase, she said her sentencing was intended to bring closure to victims, especially in view of the loss of life and "its reach into the community."
While the gallery quietly scoffed at Brooks' repeated attempts to reenter the courtroom, despite her request that he pledge to halt his interruptions, the atmosphere remained serious in anticipation for Dorow's sentencing.
"The seriousness of this offense can be summed up in one word: attack," Dorow said, focusing on what was supposed to be a holiday parade turning into a scene of carnage. "He chose to drive recklessly, maliciously and viciously" into the crowd," she added.
Dorow said she was influenced by "the complete disregard for the lives of anyone else" which one victim "described as depraved indifference, she noted that Brooks showed no remorse as victims spoke Tuesday.
"We may never know the true why, but we were provided by nothing today, other than a feeble attempt to claim mental health," she said. "I searched for a mitigating factor. I waited for a true apology. I didn't get it."
"This is one of the most aggravating cases I have ever presided over," Dorow said.
Dorow also dove into the conversations with his ex-girlfriend and mother of one of his children, showing his "rage and anger" that spilled over into the Christmas parade, and demonstrated his "poor moral character."
She also cited his violent past and criminal record in her decision, based on standards of punishment, protecting the community and bringing closure to victims.
"There will be none of the milestones these families are looking for," Dorow said. "Frankly, Mr. Brooks, no one is safe from you."
Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Darrell Brooks sentenced to life in prison in Waukesha parade attack