The man charged with fatally shooting seven people and wounding nearly 50 others at Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade is weighing a plea deal that would send him to prison for life.
Associated Press Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File
With family members of victims and survivors looking on in a Lake County courtroom, the suspect in the mass shooting at Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade backed out of plea agreement Wednesday morning that would have sent him to prison for the rest of his life.
Robert E. Crimo III initially refused to respond when Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti asked him if understood and agreed to the proposed plea deal.
Robert E. Crimo III’s attorney Gregory Ticsay, right, and Lake County’s assistant public defender Anton Trizna wait before Robert E. Crimo III appears before Judge Victoria A. Rossetti at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Ill., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Crimo III is charged with killing seven people and wounding dozens more in a shooting at an Independence Day parade in the suburban Chicago town of Highland Park, Ill.
Associated Press/Nam Y. Huh, Pool
The Highwood man, dressed in a dark blue jail-issued T-shirt, stayed silent while craning his neck to look around the courtroom gallery. His attorney then stood and walked over to the suspect’s side of the defense table, where they had a brief, hushed conversation.
Rossetti then called a recess and the suspect was taken out of court in a wheelchair. He returned about 10 minutes later and was asked again about the proposed plea deal.
“And do you wish to go through with that today?” Rossetti asked.
“No,” he replied.
He’s now scheduled to face trial in February on 21 counts of first-degree murder and dozens of attempted murder charges. A pretrial hearing also is set for August.
Lake County, Ill., State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart prepares before Robert E. Crimo III appears before Judge Victoria A. Rossetti at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Ill., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Crimo III is charged with killing seven people and wounding dozens more in a shooting at an Independence Day parade in the suburban Chicago town of Highland Park, Ill.
Associated Press/Nam Y. Huh, Pool
Under a deal outlined moments earlier by a prosecutor, the suspect would have admitted guilt to seven counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of attempted murder — one charge for each person killed or injured in the mass shooting.
He would have been sentenced to natural life in prison on the murder charges, plus an additional 30 years on the remaining counts.
Authorities say the 23-year-old perched atop a downtown Highland Park rooftop about 10:15 a.m. July 4, 2022 and fired dozens of shots from a military-style rifle into the crowd gathered for the city’s annual July 4 parade.
Killed were Highland Park residents Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; and Kevin McCarthy, 37, and his wife Irina McCarthy, 35. Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan, also were killed in the attack.
Nearly 50 people, ranging in age from 8 to 88, were wounded.
The suspect was arrested later that day near Lake Forest, after authorities said he first traveled to Wisconsin intending to perform a second mass shooting but changed his mind.
He has had turbulent interactions with the criminal justice system since. Last year, Rossetti suspended his phone privileges after authorities say he violated jail rules by using another inmate’s PIN number to call his mother. This was after his phone privileges were suspended for threatening corrections officers.
Robert E. Crimo III’s mother Denise Pesina, left, and father Robert Crimo Jr., wait before their son appears before Judge Victoria A. Rossetti at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Ill., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Crimo III is charged with killing seven people and wounding dozens more in a shooting at an Independence Day parade in the suburban Chicago town of Highland Park, Ill.
Associated Press/Nam Y. Huh, Pool
In December the defendant told Rossetti he intended to represent himself at trial. But less than a month later, he changed his mind and requested a Lake County public defender.
The hearing Wednesday took place amid heavy security.
“We will have extra sheriff’s deputies on site that day to ensure order is kept both inside and outside of the courtroom,” said Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.