The Milwaukee Brewers are bringing hope and healing to their community five months after the Waukesha, Wisconsin, parade tragedy by inviting a 12-year-old survivor to throw the first pitch at the team’s home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 14.
Sixth-grader Tucker Sparks was hospitalized in the intensive care unit for a cracked skull and road rash after Darrell E. Brooks, 40, drove his SUV through police barricades and into the town’s annual Christmas parade route in a racially motivated attack, killing six and wounding over 60 on November 21, 2021. Among those who died was Tucker’s younger brother, eight-year-old Jackson, who succumbed to his injuries two days after the incident. The brothers were marching in the parade with their baseball team, the Waukesha Blazers.
Tucker joined the Milwaukee Wave soccer team to honor his brother in February for a pre-game kick against the St. Louis Ambush. The Jackson Sparks Foundation recounted the event, saying:
On Sunday, February 6, the Milwaukee Wave took on the St. Louis Ambush. Prior to the game, the Milwaukee Wave offered a special moment to honor the memory of Jackson, and support Tucker and the Sparks Family. Tucker joined the team on the field for a pre-game kick in an unforgettable experience.
Brooks, who Fox 6 describes as “a longtime felon with a 50-page rap sheet detailing domestic violence, firearms, drugs and other convictions in Wisconsin,” is also “a registered child sex offender in Nevada and served time in Georgia for beating his ex.”
Brooks’s defense team this week requested a change of venue for the trial, citing “intensive media coverage” of the tragedy and “overwhelming community support of victims, expressed in millions of dollars in donations, dozens of vigils, and even a visit to Waukesha to support victims by first lady Jill Biden” as reasons for the need to have the trial in a different city, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. According to the report, Brooks faces 83 criminal counts:
Brooks faces six counts of first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon (his vehicle), 61 counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, six counts of hit and run involving death, and six counts of homicide by vehicle involving the use of a controlled substance.
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In addition, Brooks faces four other charges: two felony bail jumping counts tied to a Milwaukee incident involving a woman who is the mother of his child, and two misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse battery involving the same woman in Waukesha minutes before the parade incident.
Controversy arose soon after the tragedy, when reports revealed Brooks had been held in a Milwaukee jail for a hit-and-run charge in early November, and was released on a $1,000 bond two days before he plowed through the Waukesha parade. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office admitted the bond was “inappropriately low,” especially due to Brooks’s long history of violent offenses. In response Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced a bill last month to study how courts impose bail on suspects charged with violent offenses nationwide. Brooks is currently being held on a $5 million bond and is awaiting trial in October.
Meanwhile, Brewers fans are revving up for the first home game, and Tucker’s first pitch. The Brewers have been very supportive of the Sparks family, and the team took part in the “Jerseys for Jackson” movement, where children nationwide were encouraged to wear a sports jersey to school on December 3 in honor of Jackson.