Flags in Wisconsin fly at half-staff to honor child killed at Waukesha Christmas parade

Flags will fly at half-staff on the day of each of the victims' funerals.

ByJulia Jacobo
December 2, 2021, 12:44 PM

Flags in Wisconsin were flying at half-staff on Thursday to honor an 8-year-old boy who was killed while attending a Christmas parade last month.

Jackson Sparks was one of six people killed on Nov. 21 when an SUV plowed into a crowd gathered along the streets of Waukesha to watch the parade.

The next day, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order 141, which declared that flags at all State of Wisconsin buildings, grounds and military installations be flown at half-staff. The flags were to also be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of each of the victims' funerals, the order said.

PHOTO: Sasha Catalan, 17, visits a memorial with her aunt Rocio Castillo after being injured when a car plowed through a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisc., Nov. 24, 2021.
Sasha Catalan, 17, visits a memorial with her aunt Rocio Castillo after being injured when a car plowed through a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisc., Nov. 24, 2021.
Cheney Orr/Reuters

Jackson died from his injuries two days after the parade. His 12-year-old brother was "seriously injured" in the parade and was hospitalized in intensive care, according to a statement released Tuesday by a local church on behalf of their parents. The brother was expected to recover.

Jackson was in the third grade at Clarendon Avenue Elementary School in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, and played baseball for the Waukesha Blazers, according to an obituary.

"Our sweet little boy is now under the care of Jesus," the obituary read.

PHOTO: People attend a candle light vigil held in Cutler Park in Waukesha, Wisc., on Nov. 22, 2021, the day after a vehicle drove through a Christmas parade killing several people.
People attend a candle light vigil held in Cutler Park in Waukesha, Wisc., on Nov. 22, 2021, the day after a vehicle drove through a Christmas parade killing several people.
Mustafa Hussain/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Five children injured during the parade remained in the hospital as of Wednesday, according to a statement from Children's Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee, which said four were in fair condition and one was in serious condition.

The suspected driver, 39-year-old Darrell Brooks, was charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and is being held on $5 million bail. He has not entered a plea.