The man accused of the mass shooting during Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade “declined transport” and did not appear at a hearing before Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti Thursday.
The hearing was the first since Robert Crimo III backed out of a plea deal in June.
Lake County assistant public defenders Greg Ticsay and Anton Trizna waived their client’s appearance but offered no other explanation for his absence.
Rossetti noted for the record that she advised the defendant at his arraignment that court proceedings, including pretrial hearings and the trial itself, will proceed in his absence.
Rossetti set Oct. 2 for the filing of pretrial motions. She will hold a hearing on motions at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 14.
Authorities say the 23-year-old defendant 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 were wounded.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He remains incarcerated in the Lake County jail.
The defendant’s trial is scheduled for February. If convicted of two or more murders, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.