The mother of the alleged perpetrator of the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas parade mass killing told NBC News affiliate WTMJ his actions resulted from mental illness and a lack of medication.
Darrell Brooks asked to represent himself in his trial, a request that Judge Jennifer Dorow granted Sept. 28. Dawn Woods had written Dorow a letter asking that her son be prevented from doing so, later telling WTMJ she knew he was “not mentally capable of representing himself as his own attorney.”
“He always says, ‘Mama, I’m fighting for my life.’ And I said I know that baby, but we have to look at reality for what it is,” Woods told the outlet. “You did do what they said you did, even though it wasn’t intentional, but you did. You know, and you’re going to have to go to prison.”
Brooks allegedly drove an SUV into a crowd at Waukesha’s Nov. 21, 2021 Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring more than 60 others. Over 75 criminal charges have been levied against him.
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Woods said Brooks should be in a mental hospital, WTMJ reported. She predicted he would appear “manic, full blown” while representing himself in court, saying she would not be present at the trial and had received threats.
Brooks was removed from the courtroom after multiple disruptions Monday, the day jury selection for his trial began, according to NBC News. (RELATED: Juror In Whitmer Kidnapping Trial Wanted Defendants To ‘Hang’, Was ‘Far-Left’, Defense Says)
“My heart goes out to each of them,” his mother said of victims’ family members in her WTMJ interview. “I ask God to give them strength. I ask God to give them peace and comfort them.”
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