On Tuesday, Nov. 15, victims made emotional impact statements in court during the sentencing hearing of the man convicted of killing six people and injuring more than 60 others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade route in Waukesha, Wisconsin, last year.
The statements came from 45 people, including nine children. TODAY Parents followed the trial and sentencing hearing proceedings on Court TV as they played out.
Sheri Sparks — the mother of the youngest parade attack victim, 8-year-old Jackson Sparks — stood in court alongside her 12-year-old surviving son, Tucker.
"I want to give a voice to our son Jackson Sparks," the mom said, her voice shaking. "Our family is forever changed — we are hurt, angry, traumatized and broken. Nov. 21 was a day that was supposed to be fun and filled with laughter and smiles. Instead it became a nightmare full of fear, screams and tears."
On Wednesday, Oct. 25, a jury found Darrel Brooks guilty on 76 charges — including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of reckless endangerment — for driving his red SUV through a Christmas parade route on Nov. 21, 2021.
Six people were killed, aging in range from 8 to 81.
The verdict ended an embattled trial, in which Brooks represented himself, was disruptive, had to be removed from court on multiple occasions and included moments in which Brooks' outbursts scared Judge Jennifer Dorow.
On Nov. 16, Dorow sentenced the 40-year-old to life in prison with no chance of release — rejecting arguments from him and his family that mental illness drove him to do it.
Each of the six homicide counts carried a mandatory life sentence, and the only uncertainty was whether Dorow would allow Brooks to serve any portion of those sentences on extended supervision in the community, the state’s current version of parole. She did not. Wisconsin doesn’t have the death penalty.
Jackson and Tucker Sparks were walking in the parade on Nov. 21, 2021, alongside their baseball teams.
I wish I would have known then that the hug he gave me before I went to sit down was the last hug I would ever get from him.”
Sheri Sparks, mom of 8-year-old victim jordan sparks
"I left to go find my seat near the end of the parade route and wait for our group near the end of the parade," Sheri Sparks continued during her victim impact statement. "I had no idea then the nightmare that was coming my way, nor did I know it would be the last time I would hear Jackson's voice and see his smile."
"I wish I would have known then that the hug he gave me before I went to sit down was the last hug I would ever get from him," she continued. "I would have held on to him a lot longer."
Sparks went on to describe the next time she saw her son — limp and in the arms of a police officer, who was racing to get him medical care. As her husband followed, she ran to find Tucker. She eventually found her older son after identifying his shoes — his body was one of many laying in the street, covered by a blanket.
Both Tucker and Jackson were hospitalized in the ICU with traumatic head and brain injuries. Tucker survived. Jackson did not.
"His injuries were too extensive for his little body to come back from," Sparks said. "It hurts to breathe sometimes. It hurts to live without him here."
As she spoke, Judge Dorow cried and wiped away tears on multiple occasions. The man convicted of killing her son could barely look at her, keeping his head bowed or staring straight ahead.
Sparks called for the court to sentence "this man to the maximum penalty allowed under Wisconsin law."
"We have learned throughout this trial that this man is incapable of empathy or remorse," she added. "He has shown no sympathy nor apology for all the pain, suffering and loss of life he has caused so many."
During numerous other victim impact statements made that day, Brooks rolled his eyes, shook his head and at one point was removed from court for attempting to interrupt sentencing remarks.
It’s important for the world to see that evil can be a tangible, living, breathing human thing. I think it’s important for the world to see what human rot looks like.”
Chris owen, son of victim leanna joy owen
"Mr. Brooks, I hope as I read my statement you continue to roll your eyes. I hope you continue to laugh and just show how bored and unmoved you are by all of this, because I think that's important," Chris Owen, son of 71-year-old victim Leanna Joy Owen, said in court.
"It's important for the world to see that evil can be a tangible, living, breathing human thing," he continued.
Owen shared that "to my kids, Lee Owen was nanny, and nanny spoiled her grandkids every chance she got." She would sing happy birthday to her grandchildren every year. As a member of the "Dancing Grannies" for 12 years, she danced in the same parades as her granddaughter.
Owen described his mother as someone who "even when she was struggling, was always there for us." Supportive and always quick to tell her sons she was proud, her son said she made her home a haven for all his friends.
She made the best eggnog, her son shared, and would always make his grandmother's macaroni and cheese whenever the two were together.
She wanted to visit Machu Picchu before she died.
"Now the best we can do is lay her ashes there," he continued, "but Darrel Brooks's conscience is clear."
Growing emotional and visibly angry throughout his impact statement, Owen addressed how his mother's killer acted in court, both during the trial and during the sentencing hearing — even stopping to call out his actions in real time.
"Yeah, shake your head — shake your head!" Owen yelled, as Brooks once again shook his head and rolled his eyes as the grieving son shared how he "can never tell (his mom) how much I need her in my life."
"You know, because that is what you took from me, and there's nothing this court can do that will provide justice in my eyes, all I ask is that you rot, and you rot slow," Owen continued, before walking away from the podium.
When Owen finished his remarks, the man convicted of killing his mother clapped his handcuffed hands and rolled his eyes once more.
