Crime & Law
Murder Trial of Alleged Highland Park Parade Gunman Set to Begin Monday
Robert Crimo III, who is accused of climbing atop the roof of a Highland Park business and firing dozens of rounds from a high-powered rifle at paradegoers during the city’s 2022 Fourth of July parade, is finally set to go to trial more than two and a half years after the mass shooting that left seven dead and scores more injured.
Jury selection began Monday in a Lake County courtroom where Crimo, 24, will initially faced 117 charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder, representing three charges for each person killed.
But on Monday, Lake County prosecutors sought to drop 48 aggravated battery counts. They briefly noted the move ahead of jury selection without any explanation. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti signed the one-page order to dismiss the charges. Crimo still faces a life sentence if convicted on the murder charges.
Crimo is accused of firing more than 80 rounds from a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle during the attack before disguising himself in women’s clothing in order to conceal distinctive face and neck tattoos and blend into the crowd as he made his escape.
Lake County prosecutors detailed the attack during Crimo’s first court appearance just days after the mass shooting.
Crimo allegedly accessed a business rooftop at the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street through a fire escape and began firing down on pedestrians around 10:14 a.m.
A witness told investigators Crimo was “scanning the crowd” just before they saw muzzle flashes coming from the rifle, prosecutors said. Investigators recovered numerous surveillance and cell phone videos from the scene, one of which allegedly showed Crimo running from an alley near the business and dropping an object wrapped in cloth.
More than 50 people were shot, including seven people who were killed: 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.
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 teacher Zoe Kolpack and her husband.
After the shooting, police said Crimo walked to his mother’s home, took her vehicle and drove out of state to Wisconsin, where he allegedly considered carrying out another attack. He instead returned to Illinois, where he was later arrested following an extensive manhunt.
Following his arrest, Crimo allegedly told investigators he had “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire” at people across the street from the rooftop. During this interview Crimo allegedly stated he fired a full 30-round magazine, reloaded with a second 30-round magazine that he emptied, and then reloaded a second time with a third 30-round magazine.
Robert E. Crimo III, arrives before Judge Victoria A. Rossetti during a case management and ruling on motions at the Lake County Courthouse, Waukegan, Ill., Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
Already, the case has had numerous twists and turns.
In September 2023, Crimo sent a short video from the Lake County Jail in which he claimed the shooting was a “false flag” staged by the FBI. Months later in December, Crimo fired his public defenders and invoked his right to a speedy trial where he planned to act as his own attorney.
That trial was set for February 2024, but before it could begin Crimo backtracked and asked for the public defender’s office to be re-appointed as his legal counsel. His trial was then re-set for February 2025.
Then in June, it appeared the trial would be averted altogether after Crimo allegedly agreed to a plea deal in which he’d admit guilt to numerous charges including seven counts of first-degree murder and would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But with victims and their families in court, Crimo made another stunning reversal when he abruptly rejected the deal, setting the stage for Monday’s trial.
“He knew he was pulling at strings when he wouldn’t answer,” Antonio Romanucci, an attorney who represents several of the victims’ families, said following that hearing. “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.”
Prosecutors plan to call numerous victims as witnesses during Crimo’s trial, and last week, Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti ruled those victims will be allowed to attend the trial even if they are set to testify in the case.
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., was also charged months after the attack with recklessly aiding his son in obtaining firearms, including the rifle used in the shooting. He was set to go to trial in late 2023 but instead pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
After that sentence was announced, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly called the plea deal “unprecedented” in Illinois, as parents are rarely charged in connection with mass shootings committed by their children.
Highland Park resumed its Fourth of July festivities last year for the first time since the mass shooting. City officials recently announced plans for this year’s holiday, which will once again include a remembrance walk “to honor the memories of the people whose lives were taken and share solidarity with those who were injured or traumatized.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
