UPDATE MARCH 11, 2022:
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A judge is set to consider a request to move the trial of a Milwaukee man accused of driving his SUV into a Wisconsin Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring scores more. Attorneys for Darrell Brooks Jr. filed a change-of-venue motion last month asking that the trial either be moved or that jurors be pulled from a different county. They say that publicity about the case has been pervasive and overwhelmingly negative for Brooks. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Darrow was expected to discuss the motion with Brooks’ attorneys and prosecutors during a hearing Friday (March 11, 2022). It’s not clear when she will rule.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 11, 2022:
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A Milwaukee man accused of killing six people and injuring dozens more when he drove an SUV through a suburban Christmas parade is pleading not guilty to multiple criminal charges. Thirty-nine-year-old Darrell Brooks Jr. entered the pleas Friday (Feb. 11, 2022) to 77 charges, including six counts of homicide and multiple counts of reckless endangerment. Last month, court Commissioner Kevin Costello said prosecutors had presented “ample” evidence to show Brooks probably committed felonies and ordered him to stand trial. Brooks’ attorney has maintained that he couldn’t turn off the parade route Nov. 21, 2021, in downtown Waukesha because side streets were barricaded and full of spectators.
UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2022:
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin court commissioner has ordered a Milwaukee man accused of plowing his SUV through a suburban Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring dozens more, to stand trial. Waukesha County Court Commissioner Kevin Costello ordered Darrell Brooks Jr. bound over for trial on more than 70 charges, including six homicide counts at the end of a preliminary hearing Prosecutors allege Brooks drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in the city of Waukesha on Nov. 21, 2021. Brooks’ attorneys tried to argue that Brooks was high on marijuana and didn’t mean to kill anyone but Costello declared there was “ample” evidence to justify moving ahead with a trial.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 22, 2021 AT 6:30PM
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Police say the suspect in a deadly Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee was in a domestic disturbance just minutes before he killed five people and injured 48. Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said Monday there’s no evidence the man knew anyone in the parade. He says police were preparing five charges of intentional homicide against Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, of Milwaukee. Three of the five people killed were members of the “Dancing Grannies,” and a fourth was a man who volunteered for the group. An employee of Citizens Bank was also killed.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 22, 2021 AT 8AM:
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A law enforcement official says investigators are examining whether the person who drove an SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee may have been fleeing from a crime when he crashed into the paradegoers. The investigators were questioning a person in custody about that incident, which the official described as an altercation involving a knife. The official, who cautioned the investigation was still in the early stages and was continuing to develop, could not discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The city of Waukesha posted on its social media accounts that it could confirm at least five died and more than 40 were injured at the Sunday parade, while noting that it was still collecting information.
ORIGINAL STORY NOVEMBER 21, 2021:
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, says at least 5 people are dead and more than 40 injured after an SUV sped through barricades and into a Christmas parade in the Milwaukee suburb. The city did not release any additional information about those who died. Police have said a “person of interest” is in custody but have not provided details about the person or any possible motive. One video showed a woman screaming, “Oh my God!” repeatedly as a group of young dancers was struck Sunday (Nov. 21, 2021). A father talked of going “from one crumpled body to the other” in search of his daughter. Members of a “Dancing Grannies” club were among those hit and the group posted Monday (Nov. 22, 2021) on Facebook that some of its members were among the dead.
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