LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — For the second time in as many months, the man accused of opening fire on attendees at the 2022 Independence Day parade in Highland Park, killing seven and injuring dozens more, failed to appear for a scheduled court appearance.
Judge Victoria Rosetti warned attorneys representing Robert Crimo III that if he doesn’t appear at his next court date, proceedings will continue without him and he will waive his right to confront any witnesses against him. Crimo last month refused to leave his jail cell when informed by corrections staff that he was due in court.
Crimo has not appeared in court since June when he rejected a plea deal.
Defense attorneys filed a motion to exclude a portion of the statement Crimo gave to authorities on July 4 and July 5 of 2022. A hearing on those motions was scheduled for Nov. 14.
Authorities have said Crimo confessed to police in the days after he opened fire from a rooftop. They said he initially fled to the Madison, Wis., area and contemplated a second shooting at a parade there but returned to Chicago’s northern suburbs.
Killed in the attack were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. The McCarthys’ 2-year-old son was found alone at the scene and eventually reunited with extended family members. All of them were from the Highland Park area except for Toledo-Zaragoza, who was visiting family in the city from Morelos, Mexico.
Crimo’s trial date has tentatively been set to begin February 24, 2025.