Man faces 5 homicide counts in parade killings

Prosecutors in Wisconsin on Tuesday charged a man with intentional homicide in the deaths of five people who were killed when he drove an SUV into a Christmas parade that also left 62 people injured, including many children.

Prosecutors say a sixth person, a child, has died and more charges are pending.

Darrell Brooks Jr. was charged with five counts of intentional homicide in the crash Sunday in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb. Conviction on first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory life sentence, Wisconsin’s stiffest penalty.

Brooks made his initial appearance in court Tuesday.

The city’s livestream video and bystander video captured the chaotic scene when Brooks’ SUV sped along the parade route and then into the crowd. Several of those injured remain in critical condition.

According to the criminal complaint, witnesses told police that the vehicle “appeared to be intentionally moving side to side,” with no attempt to slow down or stop as it struck multiple people and sent bodies and

objects flying.

The criminal complaint said a police officer shot at the vehicle, striking it three times, and a detective stepped in front of Brooks’ vehicle and pounded on the hood, shouting “Stop,” several times but Brooks drove past him.

Brooks had been free on $1,000 bail for a case in Milwaukee County earlier in November in which he’s accused of intentionally hitting the mother of his child with his car after a fight. Prosecutors said they’re investigating their bail recommendation in that case, calling it inappropriately low.

Brooks has been charged with crimes more than a dozen times since 1999 and had two outstanding cases against him at the time of the parade disaster.

AP A woman who did not want to be identified cries at a memorial in Waukesha, Wis.. Her daughter marched in the parade where a man drove an SUV into the crowd.

Darrell Brooks Jr.