Darrell Brooks has been officially charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide after slamming his truck into people attending a Christmas parade.
During his Tuesday court appearance, the 39-year-old rapper appears to weep as he learns of the charges. Prosecutors also announced that he’d face a sixth homicide charge after 12-year-old Tucker Sparks was the sixth victim to pass away. Brooks could face additional charges as 62 people were wounded, and two children remain in critical condition.
Brooks was out on bail for punching and running over his child’s mother at a local gas station at the time of the Waukesha Christmas parade. On Sunday, while fleeing from a domestic dispute, the man plowed through police barricades into the crowd, hitting anyone who stood in his way. Police have denied claims that they were chasing him but did confirm that one officer fired at his vehicle in an effort to stop him from running over anyone else. Brooks was not injured.
It remains unclear why he chose to speed through the parade, but prosecutors stated that he should have been in jail still from the November 2nd gas station incident involving the mother of his child. He had been released days later after posting a $1,000 bond. Brooks had also been wanted in Nevada on a sex assault warrant. During this week’s hearing, his bail was set at $5 million cash.
Shortly after the parade tragedy, Brooks was captured on a Ring doorbell camera, asking Waukesha resident Daniel Rider if he could use his phone. Brooks told Rider that he was homeless and needed to request an Uber. Rider let Brooks into the home and made him a sandwich as he waited on the Uber. However, as police rode up and down Rider’s street, he felt that something was not right with Brooks and asked him to leave. Brooks returned a short time later, claiming that he had left his ID inside the home, but Rider did not answer the door. Police arrested Brooks in front of Rider’s house.
“Uber showed up maybe a minute after he was in custody. So I just think about sometimes if he’d gotten in that car, what could have happened?” Riddle told CNN.
