LeAnna “Lee” Owen was a 71-year-old White/Caucasian woman whose life ended during what was supposed to be a joyful holiday celebration in Waukesha, Wisconsin. On the afternoon of November 21, 2021, Owen was participating in the city’s annual Christmas parade as a longtime member of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. She had been involved with the group for years and was remembered by relatives and friends as someone who loved dancing, enjoyed being part of the parades, and tried to help the
people around her. Outside the dance group, she managed an apartment complex in the Milwaukee-area community of Cudahy and was a mother and grandmother.
The parade was already underway when a red Ford Escape driven by Darrell E. Brooks Jr. approached the route. Investigators said Brooks had been involved in a domestic disturbance near the parade staging area shortly beforehand. According to the criminal complaint, police officers encountered the SUV as it moved toward the parade and repeatedly attempted to stop the driver. One detective stepped in front of the vehicle, struck its hood and shouted for the driver to stop, but the SUV continued forward. Another officer also ordered the vehicle to stop. Instead of leaving the parade route when opportunities were available, prosecutors said Brooks continued onto East Main Street and accelerated into the procession.
As the SUV traveled through the crowded parade, witnesses described people desperately trying to get out of its path. The vehicle struck parade participants and spectators, including members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. Owen was among those hit. During Brooks’ later trial, Waukesha County Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Amy Sheil testified that Owen suffered devastating injuries to her head, spine, torso and internal organs. Her cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt-force traumatic injuries. The medical examiner testified that some of Owen’s neck and spinal injuries were so severe that they would have been fatal within seconds.
Owen was one of six people who ultimately lost their lives as a result of the attack. Fellow Dancing Grannies Virginia “Ginny” Sorenson and Tamara Durand were also killed, along with Wilhelm “Bill” Hospel, who volunteered with the group, Jane Kulich, who was participating with Citizens Bank, and eight-year-old Jackson Sparks. More than 60 other people were injured. The scale of the destruction left the parade route filled with injured victims as police, firefighters, medical personnel and bystanders rushed to help. Police Chief Dan Thompson later said investigators believed the act was intentional, although authorities said they found no evidence that it was terrorism.
Brooks fled the immediate parade area, but police quickly identified the damaged Ford Escape and located him nearby that same evening. Investigators connected him to the vehicle, and he was taken into custody. Prosecutors initially charged Brooks with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the deaths of Owen, Sorenson, Durand, Kulich and Hospel. After Jackson Sparks died from his injuries two days later, prosecutors added a sixth homicide count. The case eventually expanded to 76 criminal charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, six counts related to hit-and-run causing death, two felony bail-jumping counts and a misdemeanor battery charge.
Brooks pleaded not guilty and at one point pursued an insanity defense before withdrawing it. He later chose to represent himself at trial. Beginning in October 2022, prosecutors presented extensive eyewitness testimony, police evidence, medical testimony and evidence showing the path of the SUV through the parade. Officers testified that Brooks had opportunities to leave the route and that commands to stop were ignored. On October 26, 2022, after a trial that lasted several weeks, a Waukesha County jury found Brooks guilty on all 76 charges, including all six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
At sentencing on November 16, 2022, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow imposed a separate life sentence without eligibility for extended supervision for each of the six people Brooks killed. The six life sentences were ordered to run consecutively. Additional convictions resulted in hundreds of years of imprisonment beyond the life terms. During the sentencing proceedings, Owen’s family described the enormous loss left by her death. Her son Chris Owen spoke about his mother and the impact of losing her during an event she had loved participating in. The sentence ensured that Brooks would spend the remainder of his life in prison for the attack that killed LeAnna Owen and five others and permanently changed the lives of scores of survivors and their families.
