Robert Crimo III, who remains in custody at the Lake County Jail, once again refused to attend a status hearing in his case Wednesday, months before he is set to stand trial on seven counts of first-degree murder and dozens of other charges.
Highland Park
Throughout four days of testimony, a central issue has been whether the weapons and equipment covered under the law are commonly used in American society for lawful purposes such as self-defense, and thus protected under the Second Amendment, or military-grade weapons that state and local governments can more easily keep out of civilian hands.
Illinois lawmakers in 2023 passed the ban on so-called assault weapons following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.
Illinois lawmakers passed the ban in 2023 following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.
Illinois lawmakers passed the ban in 2023 following a mass shooting the prior year at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.
The July 4, 2022, shooting took seven lives and wounded dozens of people. As Highland Park officials planned the first parade since the shooting, victims have been trying to make sense of what happened, many of them feeling fresh pain.
The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings involving four or more people regardless of whether they died, shows June, July, and August have had the highest total number of mass shootings over the past decade. The lowest totals were from December through March.
Robert Crimo III, who was expected to plead guilty Wednesday, instead appeared in a Lake County courtroom packed with victims of the shooting and rejected an agreement in which he would have pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree murder and dozens of other charges.
Robert Crimo III was scheduled to face trial next February on a raft of charges, including murder and attempted murder, for the shooting in Highland Park nearly two years ago.
The city of Highland Park is planning to resume its annual Fourth of July parade — two years after a gunman opened fire on attendees, killing seven and wounding dozens more.
Prosecutors over the past few years have been slowly, but steadily, expanding the notion of who can be held accountable for a mass shooting.
Robert Crimo III had briefly been set to go to trial this week after he temporarily demanded to represent himself. But after he changed his mind, Judge Victoria Rossetti on Wednesday reset the initial Feb. 24, 2025 trial date.
The February trial date for alleged Highland Park parade gunman Robert Crimo III has been removed, with a new trial date coming either later this year or in early 2025.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied to take up a petition filed by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, that sought to overturn a ruling on a related case he’d brought before the Illinois Supreme Court.
In a surprise move Monday, Crimo III told the court he wishes to proceed pro se and will act as his own attorney. The 23-year-old also invoked his right to a speedy trial — pushing what had been expected to be a February 2025 trial date up to Feb. 26, 2024.
Robert Crimo Jr. entered a guilty plea to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct last week in Lake County court. Crimo sponsored his underage son’s firearm application three years before the July 2022 attack in Highland Park, even though the teenager had recently threatened violence.