It didn’t take long for a Waukesha County court commissioner to set bail at $5 million for Darrell Brooks, Jr. late Tuesday afternoon.
According to the criminal complaint, the 39-year-old allegedly drove an SUV through Waukesha’s annual Christmas parade Sunday, killing five people and injuring 62. Brooks was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
District attorney Susan Opper added that an additional victim died Tuesday after the initial complaint was written.
“I wish to notify the court sadly that today we learned of another death, of a child, related to this case. We do expect a sixth count for first-degree intentional homicide to be...added to this case,” Opper said.
Children’s Wisconsin reports the child was one of 16 young people admitted to the hospital after being injured at Sunday’s parade.
Opper urged court commissioner Kevin Costello to set a bail of $5 million, after reading from Brooks’ criminal record. It started with cases in 2000 and stretched to a recent allegation.
“The allegations in that case, your honor, is that he struck the mother of his child in the face with a closed fist, then, as she was walking away from him, he intentionally ran her over with his vehicle,” Opper said. “The vehicle in that matter described as what’s believed to be the same maroon 2010 Ford Escape used in the allegations in this case.”
Throughout the court appearance, Brooks was heard crying as he sat hunched next to his attorneys.
The defense had little to say, except that Brooks is financially indigent.
As Court Commissioner Costello approved a $5 million bail request, he said he had never seen a more shocking case.
Costello referred to the criminal complaint, citing witness accounts that say the SUV drove in a zig-zag motion as if it “was trying to avoid vehicles, not people.”
"I believe you are a flight risk. There's a failure to follow court orders. This allegation, although the motive is not known — I'm not entitled to know what that is — but it looks like it with panic or whatever, or an intentional act for whatever reason," Costello said. "You don't do well under pressure."
Brooks is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 14, 2022 for a preliminary hearing.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Nov. 29, 2021, to correct the identification of the court commissioner previously misidentified as David Herring.
