By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press
WAUKEGAN, Ill (AP) — The man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more at a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb pleaded guilty Monday to murder and attempted murder, just moments before opening arguments in his trial.
Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E. Crimo III, 23, withdrew his earlier not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting. The trial started Feb. 24 with jury selection.
Prosecutors initially charged him with 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped the less serious 48 counts of aggravated battery before jury selection last week.
On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked questions to be sure he understood before any open plea was read to the court. He was sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit.
Sentencing will come April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a natural life prison sentence.
Crimo did not further address the court or ask questions before leaving the courtroom.
The trial that began Feb. 24 was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police. Prosecutors have turned in thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting.
Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 30 miles north of Chicago. The wounded ranged in age from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed.
Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes.
The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly due to Crimo’s unpredictable behavior. In June 2024, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, Crimo showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers.
He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself. Then he abruptly reversed himself.
The trial came almost two years after his father’s case focusing on how Crimo obtained a gun license.
In 2019, at age 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a gun license with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.”
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct.
City leaders canceled the annual parade in 2023 but reinstated it the following year with a remembrance ceremony for those killed.
Killed in the shooting were: Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.
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