Waukesha Christmas Parade Suspect Gets Brutal Dose of Reality from His Own Mom
The mother of the alleged Waukesha, Wisconsin, parade killer has told a Milwaukee NBC affiliate she’s begged her child not to act as his own attorney and said “you’re going to see manic, full-blown” mental illness on…

The mother of the alleged Waukesha, Wisconsin, parade killer has told a Milwaukee NBC affiliate she’s begged her child not to act as his own attorney and said “you’re going to see manic, full-blown” mental illness on display when the trial begins.
Darrell Brooks Jr. allegedly killed six people and wounded dozens of others when he drove an SUV through a crowd of people during a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21, 2021. He faces almost 80 counts in the case, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
Brooks, who had a lifetime rap sheet 44 pages long, was out on bail posted by his mother less than a week before the attack after being charged in a domestic violence case.
As for a motive for the alleged killing, that still remains unclear. Some have pointed to racist and anti-Semitic statements he made made on social media as a possible motive. Authorities have not identified that as a factor, however.
As Brooks’ trial is about to begin, his mother, Dawn Woods, says the real reason behind it is untreated mental illness — and she is pleading with her child not to act as his own attorney.
Woods, who wrote a letter to the court asking it to not allow her son to represent himself, told WTMJ-TV she did it because “I wanted to help Darrell.”
“I knew that he was not mentally capable of presenting himself as his own attorney,” she said.


