MathBoi Fly aka Darrell Brooks: Milwaukee Rapper was out on bail for running over mother of his child at time of Waukesha Christmas Parade attack.
The individual who plowed through crowds at a Waukesha Christmas Parade on Sunday night, killing five people and injuring up to 48 persons, was on bail at the time after running over the mother of his child and punching her with ‘a closed fist’ just three weeks ago and had been fleeing police.
Darrell Edward Brooks Jr., 39, was taken into custody in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday night after police found his damaged red Ford SUV parked in a driveway five blocks from where he drove through crowds of kids and elderly dancing groups NBC News reported.
Darrell Brooks, a self described amateur rapper with a long criminal history had been released on Friday after being charged with resisting or obstructing an officer, reckless endangering safety, disorderly conduct, bail jumping and battery, according to court records.
The suspect who has a criminal rap sheet dating back to 1999, has more than 15 arrests in the state of Wisconsin alone for charges including possession of drugs, strangulation and suffocation, battery, illegally possessing firearms as a convicted felon and resisting arrest.
On Sunday he was fleeing the scene of a domestic dispute when he crashed into the crowds after smashing through safety barriers.
This video was taken minutes after the terrorist attack in Waukesha..
Multiple deaths after an SUV plowed through a group of 9-15 year olds marching in a Christmas parade.
Pray for Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/qdcwSH7m0M
— Karl F Kennedy 🆓️ 💬 (@KarlFKennedy17) November 22, 2021
Fatal victims identified
One officer tried to stop him by shooting at his car, only to stop because there were too many people around for him to safely fire his weapon.
The Waukesha Police Department have now arrested Brooks on five murder charges.
The victims have been identified as four women and one man, aged 52 to 81.
They include Virginia Sorenson, 79, Leanna Owens, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, James Coolidge, 52, and Wilhem Hospel, 82.
‘At this time, the Waukesha Police Department is referring five counts of first-degree intentional homicide, with additional charges based on the investigation,’ Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said during a Monday press conference.
While adding, ‘This is not a terrorist event.’
‘We have information that the suspect prior to the incident was involved in a domestic disturbance which was just minutes prior and the suspect left that scene just prior to our arrival to that domestic disturbance,’ he added.
These are two of the victims killed in the #Waukesha Holiday Parade tragedy. Virginia Sorenson, 79, and Lee Owens, 71, were members of the #DancingGrannies group. May they rest in peace. https://t.co/Y7QK0pNxCt pic.twitter.com/JpCeeNQ2id
— CBS 58 News (@CBS58) November 22, 2021
Recent crime spree
Along with the five deaths, two children remain in a critical condition, with 10 children currently in intensive care – including three sets of siblings.
Between July 2020 and February 2021, Brooks was in custody awaiting a trial date on a $7,500 bond for shooting at his nephew after a fight over his old cell phone.
The bond was dropped to $500 in February because the courts couldn’t give him a trial quickly enough.
He was arrested again on November 2 in Milwaukee for hunting down the mother of one of his children at a hotel, where upon he punched her ‘with a closed fist’ then following her in the street with his SUV and running her over in the parking lot of a gas station after she refused to get in his car.
Brooks was arrested and charged with five counts including bail jumping, for having failed to meet the terms of one of his many other sets of bail or probation requirements.
But on November 11, he posted a $1,000 cash bond. By November 19, he was on the streets again and by November 21, behind the wheel of his Ford again.
This is Darrell Brooks Jr.
He killed at least 5 and injured 40+ when he plowed into a Christmas Parade.
He was released on $1,000 cash bail just two days before the attack and has an extensive criminal history.
Why was he allowed back on the streets? pic.twitter.com/iQSjOG5h1N
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 22, 2021
Bail set too low
After Sunday night’s massacre, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement conceding the bail that was set was ‘inappropriately low.’
‘The bail recommendation in this case is not consistent with the approach of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office toward matters involving violent crime, nor was it consistent with the risk assessment of the defendant prior to setting of bail.
‘This office is currently conducting an internal review of the decision to make the recent bail recommendation in this matter in order to determine the appropriate next steps,’ the statement stated.
The district attorney’s office said it had launched an internal probe into how Brooks was given such a low bond given the seriousness of the charges and his criminal history.
But there’s more.
Brooks is also listed as a sex offender in Nevada, where he was charged with having sex with a minor. A social media video of him taken before Sunday’s incident shows him trying to explain that the victim was the mother of his oldest daughter who he ‘didn’t know was 16’ when they had sex.
Life mirroring art
Police sources told The Washington Post that Brooks had been fleeing the scene of a knife attack on Sunday when he plowed into the crowds at 4.39pm at the Waukesha parade.
Brooks lives some 20 miles away in Milwaukee in a suburban home where he films rap videos in the street.
His motive for Sunday’s attack remains unclear; police will not confirm whether it was a deliberate act of terror or if Brooks accidentally ran into the crowds after losing control of his car while fleeing a knife crime.
Social media profiles reveal Brooks was an amateur rapper who went by the name MathBoi Fly, and claimed to have ‘turned to the streets at a very young age’ while growing up in a ‘dangerous West Side neighborhood of Washington Park’. He described himself as ‘the best underground artist in his city’.
The rapper who put out videos, also featured the same red vehicle which plowed down his victims. Social media profiles of the rapper have now been taken down.
