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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A jury convicted Darrell Brooks on Wednesday for driving his SUV through a Christmas parade that killed six people in 2021. The incident occurred in Waukesha, Wisconsin last November when the 40-year-old man pummeled through the crowd injuring 62 people, most of them fatally.
The jury
found Brooks guilty on all six counts of first-degree intentional homicide as well
as on 70 other charges making a total of 76.
The convicted
criminal is expected to appear in court on Monday for sentencing and is facing
a mandatory life sentence on each charge of first-degree intentional homicide
as well as jail time on other charges.
Earlier
Brooks pleaded not guilty on all charges brought against him
Brooks
withdrew his initial plea of not guilty on grounds of insanity but later
withdrew the plea and sought to represent himself last month after public attorneys
representing him withdrew themselves from the case.
The Waukesha
County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow granted Brooks’ request to represent
himself last week saying he possessed "the minimal competency necessary to
conduct his own defense," according to the Washington Examiner.
Prosecutors
sought to prove that Brooks intentionally tore through the crowd at significant
speeds with “utter disregard for human life,” according to The Hill.
Authorities
said Brooks was fleeing the scene of a reported domestic disturbance.
He was
charged with recklessly endangering safety, hit-and-run causing death, bail
jumping and misdemeanor battery after he rammed his Ford Escape through the
parade on November 21 in Waukesha, near Milwaukee, The Hill reported.
His victims
were between the age of 8 and 81, one of which was an 8-year-old boy attending the
event.
“He reached speeds of approximately 30 mph. That’s intentional,” Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said during the trial, according to the Washington Examiner. “He plowed through 68 different people — 68. How can you hit one and keep going? How can you hit two and keep going?”