Waukesha massacre suspect requests change of venue

Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, stands accused of killing six people and injuring more than 40 after plowing his vehicle through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin in November.

According to CBS 58, Brooks's lawyers have requested that the trial be moved so that their client can receive a fair trial. The judge is expected to rule on the request Monday afternoon.

Brooks Jr. pleaded not guilty to all 77 charges laid against him in Feb., including 6 counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He has been held in jail on a $5 million bail since his arrest while awaiting trial.

"At 4:39 pm on Sunday, November 21, 2021, a lone subject intentionally drove his maroon SUV through barricades into a crowd of people celebrating the Christmas parade, which resulted in killing 5 people, and injuring 48 additional individuals... 2 of the 48 are children, and are in critical condition," police said.

The death toll rose to six after it was confirmed that 8-year-old Jackson Sparks died from his injuries.

The courts have said that there is ample evidence against Brooks, as well as testimony from police detective Thomas Casey, who described how Brooks plowed into citizens even after some yelled at him to stop. Brooks allegedly "zigzagged" across the street "for blocks" at the family event.

Darrell Brooks Jr. is a career criminal with multiple priors and was released from jail two days prior to the incident after posting an "inappropriately low" bail of $1,000 for three misdemeanors and two felonies.

He has a history of resisting arrest, obstruction, battery, statutory sexual seduction, strangulation and suffocation, property destruction, illegal firearm possession, bail jumping, domestic violence, drug-related charges and is a registered sex offender.

Brooks was also found to have been arrested previously for allegedly running a woman over with his car, court documents show.

Public defender Anna Kees said that her defendant could not turn off the route, and that he did not intend to hit pedestrians. She also said that Brooks couldn't bring himself to look at photos of the crimes he allegedly committed.

Police identified the victims killed in the Waukesha car attack as Jackson Sparks, 8, Virginia Sorenson, 79, Leanna Owens, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, James Coolidge, 52, and Wilhelm Hospel, 82.