- Tributes have poured in for the people killed Sunday in the Christmas-parade crash in Wisconsin.
- Of the five killed, three were part of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a local dance troupe.
Heartfelt tributes have poured in for the five people killed when a driver plowed through the crowds at a Christmas parade in
On Monday, local authorities identified the dead as Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Sorenson, Owen, and Durand were all members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a local dance troupe. Hospel was also linked to the group and helped to ferry his wife, Lola, and other dancers around town, the paper said.
Speaking with The Daily Beast, Durand's husband, Dave Durand, said his wife made her debut as part of the Dancing Grannies at the Christmas parade.
"She was super energetic," he told the outlet. "She was that type of person who when she walks in the room, everybody notices her smile. She literally danced her way through life."
Sorenson's husband, David, told the Journal Sentinel that she loved the "dancing and the camaraderie of the women" and continued to dance despite her bad back. Virginia Sorenson, a nurse, was one of the core members of the troupe.
"She taught me to do the cancan," David Sorenson said, remembering how he met his wife at a church event decades ago.
Owen was remembered by her coworkers as being the "nicest lady" without "a mean bone in her body."
"She will be sorely missed," Dave Schmidt, who worked with Owen to manage properties in the community, told the Journal Sentinel.
Kulich, who worked as a local bank teller, was remembered as a "loving, beautiful, and charismatic mother, grandmother, and friend to so many" in a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by a family friend for Kulich's family.
"The world is a much darker place without a woman like this in the world," wrote Shannon Calhoun, who organized the fundraiser.
Taylor Smith, Kulich's daughter, made a post on Facebook on Monday, writing: "There's no words. It's so unreal. My mom was killed lastnight. We are told she didn't suffer. Thank God.
"I'm so grateful I got to have her this long, but damn. She was walking in the parade lastnight. She was so happy. I love you mom. Rest in peace my beautiful angel."
At least 48 people, including 18 children, were injured
Local officials said at least 48 people were injured in the incident, with some experiencing broken bones and serious head wounds. At least 18 children ages 3 to 16 years old were hospitalized.
Jessalyn Torres, 11, was performing in the parade with a dance group when the SUV hit her, per The Sun. According to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by Oscar Luna, a family friend of Torres' mother, Amber Kohnke, Torres is in intensive care "on high oxygen," having sustained a broken pelvis as well as internal injuries to her kidney, liver, and lungs.
"She's in critical condition in the ICU, dealing with internal injuries at this moment," Ryan Kohnke, Torres' uncle, told Fox 6 Now. "I'm upset. I'm mad. I am devastated, falling apart. I'm trying to keep it together for my family."
Separately, mourners have gathered across Waukesha hosting candlelight vigils in remembrance of the victims.
Darrell E. Brooks, 39, has been identified by authorities as the suspect in the crash. Chief Daniel Thompson of the Waukesha Police Department said on Monday that Brooks faced five counts of first-degree intentional homicide.