Crime & Law
With Victims’ Families Gathered in Court, Alleged Highland Park Parade Gunman Backs Out of Plea Deal That Would Have Seen Him Sentenced to Life in Prison
Visitors pay their respects, Thursday, July 7, 2022, at altars for the seven people killed in the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, File)
Robert Crimo III, who is accused of firing dozens of rounds from atop a Highland Park business at paradegoers below, killing seven people and wounding dozens more during the city’s 2022 Fourth of July festivities, rejected a plea agreement that would have seen him sentenced to life in prison for the deadly mass shooting.
Crimo III, who was expected to plead guilty Wednesday, instead appeared in a Lake County courtroom packed with victims of the shooting and their families and at the last minute rejected an agreement in which he would have pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree murder and dozens of other charges.
His case, which had been set to conclude Wednesday, will instead remain scheduled for trial in February 2025.
Lake County prosecutors read through the plea agreement in court, stating that Crimo III would plead guilty to the first-degree murder charges along with 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But when Judge Victoria Rossetti asked Crimo III if this was the deal he had discussed with his attorneys, he shifted in his seat and refused to answer. Following a brief recess, he stated he had discussed the deal, but indicated he would not agree to it.
Robert E. Crimo III, left, talks to Lake County's assistant public defender Anton Trizna as he appears before Judge Victoria A. Rossetti at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Ill., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
As the hearing concluded, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart asked Rossetti to allow his staff to speak with the victims and their family members privately in the courtroom “in light of what has happened.”
Crimo III was indicted days after the 2022 mass shooting on 117 charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder stemming from the mass shooting.
Prosecutors said Crimo III accessed a business rooftop at the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street via a fire escape and began firing down on pedestrians at around 10:14 a.m.
A witness told investigators Crimo III was “scanning the crowd” just before they saw muzzle flashes coming from the rifle, according to prosecutors. Investigators recovered numerous surveillance and cell phone videos from the scene, one of which allegedly showed Crimo III running from an alley near the business.
He allegedly fired more than 80 rounds from a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle during the attack and disguised himself in women’s clothing in order to conceal distinctive face and neck tattoos and blend into the crowd as he made his escape.
More than 50 were shot, including seven people — 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein; 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and her 37-year-old husband Kevin McCarthy; 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim; 88-year-old Stephen Straus; 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza; and 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo — who were killed in the shooting.
Surviving victims included the McCarthy’s 2-year-old son Aiden, 8-year-old Cooper Roberts — who was left paralyzed from the waist down — and Chicago Public Schools pre-K teacher Zoe Kolpack and her husband.
Following the shooting, Crimo III allegedly drove to Wisconsin, where police said he had considered shooting additional people. He instead returned to Illinois, where he was arrested later on July 4 following an extensive manhunt.
Jacquelyn Sundheim’s daughter, Leah, said after the hearing she came to court Wednesday with hopes she could finally put the shooting out of her mind and fully grieve her mother as the second anniversary of the shooting approaches.
“And instead,” she said, “we were yet again shown his complete and blatant disregard for humans, for anyone, for all of us in that courtroom. Instead we all get to sit and wait weeks and months of more hearings and unknowns that we just have to live with.”
Sundheim called Crimo III “evil and manipulative” and she believes he knew what he was going to do ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.
“I think he has very little control and will exercise every bit he has and does not care who he hurts in the meantime,” she said.
Karina Mendez, the daughter of Eduardo Uvaldo, said her family was “hoping for the best” Wednesday but will be patient while the rest of the case plays out.
“My dad was somebody who always said that if we did something we should say we did it and be accountable for what we do,” she said. “I know he’s up there looking at us now telling us right now just to be patient and let the court system do what they have to do.”
Antonio Romanucci, an attorney who represents several of the victims’ families, said he believed Crimo III “enjoyed the theater” of today’s hearing.
“I think what’s been predictable about Robert Crimo (III) is how unpredictable he is,” he said, claiming that when Crimo III looked back into the gallery Wednesday, he wasn’t looking at his family, but rather “who was there to observe him.”
“He knew he was pulling at strings when he wouldn’t answer,” Romanucci continued. “And when they took him back and when he got back and had the chance to say ‘no,’ that was his opportunity to put his thumb in everyone’s eye that was in that courtroom because he brought them in.”
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. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
Crimo III initially pleaded not guilty and was set for trial earlier this year when he abruptly dismissed his public defender and sought to represent himself while demanding a speedy trial in Feb. 2024. He eventually backtracked on that demand and re-hired his attorney, but the trial was delayed until Feb. 2025.
While in custody last October, Crimo III sent a brief video message from jail in which he claimed the shooting was a “false flag” operation carried out by the FBI, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Crimo III’s father — Robert Crimo Jr. — was also charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct for assisting his son in purchasing firearms prior to the shooting, despite knowing Crimo III had made violent threats in the past including stating he was “going to kill everyone,” according to prosecutors.
On the day he was set to go to trial last November, Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. As he was set to report to jail, he walked to the Lake County Courthouse wearing a shirt that read “I’m a political pawn.” He has since served his sentence and has been released from custody.
After skipping the traditional parade last year in favor of a remembrance ceremony and walk, Highland Park officials announced it will return this July, along with a morning remembrance ceremony for the victims.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
