(NEW YORK) — A Milwaukee County judge on Monday ordered Darrell Brooks Jr., the man charged in the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade attack that left six people dead, to make an in-person appearance in February 2022 for an unrelated case.

Brooks, 39, is accused of trying to run over the mother of his child in Milwaukee on Nov. 2. He was on a $1,000 bail for this case when he allegedly drove his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21.

He is currently being held in Waukesha County Jail and has been charged with six counts of intentional homicide in the crash that injured more than 60 people.

Over a Zoom status hearing, Judge Michelle Havas also increased his bail to $200,000 to secure his next court appearance for this case. Brooks had to dial into the hearing since the jail didn’t have Zoom capabilities.

Matthew Torbenson, who appeared on behalf of the state, asked for an increase in cash bail to $200,000 for this case due to the “extraordinary” and “very serious nature” of alleged bail violations by Brooks.

On Nov. 11, Brooks was issued a no-contact order with the witnesses in the case who goes by the initial EAP and DW. Torbenson, in the Zoom hearing, announced that while in custody, Brooks had made 49 calls to the victim, out of which 25 made it through.

The defense, consisting of Attorneys Robert Hampton and William Rakestraw, argued against an increase in the bail because their client was already facing a $5 million bail charge in the Waukesha case, which would secure his appearance in court. The judge quashed this argument, saying that she has a “huge reason” to think Brooks won’t show up in court if his release is secured in another county such as Waukesha. She gave the hypothetical examples of someone stepping up to be his benefactor and paying off his $5 million bail as a possibility leading to such an outcome.

Toward the end of the hearing, Havas told Brooks that the no-contact order with the victim in the earlier case is still in place and that she would see him in court on Feb. 2, 2022, for his next appearance.

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(NEW YORK) — A local benefit on Sunday raised around $24,000 to support Erick Tiegs, a survivor of the Christmas parade attack on Nov. 21 in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Tiegs, 16, was playing trombone in his high school’s marching band when a man plowed his SUV through the parade, killing at least six people. Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, was charged with six counts of intentional homicide in the crash that also injured more than 60 people.

According to Donald Tiegs, Erick’s father, the teenager survived several serious injuries, including a spinal fracture, multiple broken ribs and a fractured skull and femur.

The Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin, a fishing club that Tiegs’ father was a part of, hosted the benefit on Sunday in his support.

John Donald, the director of sponsorship and donation for the club, told ABC News that he co-organized the benefit with four colleagues and his wife, Holly Donald, as “an opportunity for us to give back to an awesome family that went through a very difficult time.”

Erick Tiegs, who attended Sunday’s benefit, told reporters that he’s healing and getting better every day.

“It’s fun seeing all these people,” he said. “And it’s cool to see that everyone here supports, and wants to support me.”

Around 175 businesses pooled in items valued at more than $30,000, which were auctioned off at a fundraiser on Dec. 19 held in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Others are still sending over cash checks to John Donald and his team in the form of donations, 100% of which will be sent to the Tiegs. John Donald said he expects the check to reach the family by the end of the week.

Local community members gathered to make bids on auction items, including guided tours in West Virginia and package trips to Canada, WISN reported.

While funds from the event are still coming in, Holly Donald told ABC News that the auction has raised around $24,000 in a check payable to the Tiegs.

“I don’t think any one of us could imagine being in their shoes,” John Donald told ABC News. “But I can tell you with the community that we have — and especially our tight-knit fishing community — if it were to happen to me, I guarantee they’d all step up and help me.”

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(NEW YORK) — The fate of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who is facing charges related to the alleged abuse and trafficking of underage girls, has been placed in the hands of a 12-person jury.

Judge Alison Nathan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York instructed seven women and five men to begin deliberating on Monday, following closing arguments that highlighted three weeks of opposing testimony from Maxwell’s accusers, former Epstein employees, and various other associates of the once glamorous, globetrotting couple.

Maxwell and Epstein “were partners in crime who sexually exploited young girls together,” according to prosecutors, who described Maxwell in their closing arguments as “a grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids, young women from struggling families.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said the pair selected their victims carefully, suggesting that it was no accident the four accusers who testified — “Jane,” “Kate,” Carolyn and Annie — came from single-parent households. They were isolated, Moe said, and plied with gifts and promises of career assistance in what she called a pattern of grooming and abuse.

“Maxwell was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,” Moe said. “She ran the same playbook again and again and again. She manipulated her victims and she groomed them for sexual abuse. She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls. It is time to hold her accountable.”

But Maxwell’s defense attorneys said that “Ghislaine Maxwell is an innocent woman” — the victim of “straight-up sensationalism” by prosecutors who “pivoted” to Maxwell once Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Defense attorney Laura Menninger urged the jury to find Maxwell not guilty on each count she faces, arguing that the government’s case relied on the “erroneous memories” of four accusers who Menninger said “inserted” Maxwell into accounts that initially included only Epstein.

Prosecutors “bombed,” Menninger said, and “failed to deliver the goods” to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, relying on “smoke and mirrors” to equate Maxwell with Epstein.

“Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein,” Menninger said. “She’s being tried here for being with Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe that was the biggest mistake of her life, but it was not a crime.”

In contrast, prosecutor Maurene Comey called Maxwell “essential” to Epstein’s abuse. In a theatrical flourish to finish the case, Comey during her rebuttal pointed to Maxwell, seated at the defense table in a light colored sweater and black mask, and said, “This case is about that woman.”

“It’s about the children that she targeted, the steps that she took to serve those children up to be abused,” Comey said.

Menninger, in response, said, “What you heard, and more importantly what you did not hear over the last three weeks, is going to convince you the only verdict is not guilty.”

Maxwell faces a six-count indictment for allegedly conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls between 1994 and 2004. She has been held without bail since her arrest in July 2020 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

If convicted, Maxwell could spend decades in prison.

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