The Waukesha 'car killer' who allegedly plowed through the community's annual Christmas parade was charged with a sixth count of first-degree intentional homicide Monday six days after a sixth victim, Jackson Sparks, 8, died from his injuries.
Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, had the first five charges brought against him on November 23 in connection with the deaths of Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.
In addition to allegedly killing the above six, Brooks injured over 60 people when he slammed his SUV into the crowd last Sunday.
Seven children are still recovering in the hospital, three of which are in serious condition, Children's Hospital Wisconsin confirmed on social media today.
Darrell Brooks, 39, the Waukesha Christmas parade 'car killer,' was charged with a sixth count of first-degree intentional homicide today
The charge comes after the sixth victim of the tragedy, Jackson Sparks, 8, died from his injuries last Tuesday. He is pictured above (bottom) with his brother Tucker, 12
Jackson, the latest victim to die, was a third-grade student at Clarendon Avenue Elementary School in Mukwonago and a member of LifePoint Church, according to his obituary.
'Jackson loved baseball and played for the Waukesha Blazers. When not playing baseball, or slam-dunking basketballs throughout the house, Jackson enjoyed fishing, catching frogs, and playing with his brother Tucker and his dog Qi'ra,' his obituary reads.
Brooks, who faces life in prison if convicted, is currently being held on $5 million bail in a jail in Wisconsin. The Christmas parade tragedy is the latest in a series of violent crimes he is tied to going back 22 years and spanning across numerous states.
Brooks, who is also a registered sex offender, has been arrested more than 15 times in the state of Wisconsin alone for charges including possession of drugs, strangulation and suffocation, battery, illegally possessing firearms as a convicted felon and resisting arrest.
Social media footage shows the speeding red SUV collide into a group of people marching in the middle of the street during the annual holiday parade in Waukesha, about 20 miles west of downtown Milwaukee
The Christmas parade began on Sunday at 4pm, with participants starting at Main St. and Whiterock Ave. It was always intended to be a short parade, ending half a mile away at the northeast corner of Cutler Park. At 4.39pm, the red SUV is filmed speeding down Main Street. It smashed into the crowd, and sent bodies flying, before carrying on down towards the end of the parade, where the car broke through barriers. The SUV was found less than five blocks away and the driver was taken into custody but it's unclear exactly where
The decision to hold him on bail in connection with the parade tragedy sparked outrage after it was revealed he was out on $1,000 bail when allegedly plowed through the crowd.
After spending eight months behind bars between July 2020 and February 2021 for shooting at another vehicle on the road after a fight, Brooks found himself out on bail after a bond previously at $10,000 was dropped to $500 in February.
He was then arrested again, on November 2, in Milwaukee, for hunting down the
