The man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more during a 2022 Independence Day parade in Highland Park pleaded guilty Monday to murder and attempted murder, just before opening arguments were set to begin in his trial.
Robert E. Crimo III, 23, withdrew his previous not-guilty plea in a Lake County courtroom. The trial had commenced on Feb. 24 with jury selection. Crimo had initially faced 21 counts of first-degree murder—three for each victim—as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped the 48 aggravated battery charges before jury selection began last week.
Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges aloud in court Monday, confirming that Crimo understood them before accepting his plea. Dressed in a dark suit, he sat beside his attorneys but did not address the court or ask any questions before departing.
Crimo is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, though he is expected to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole, as each first-degree murder charge carries a natural life sentence under Illinois law.
The trial was originally anticipated to last about a month, with testimony from survivors and law enforcement officials. Prosecutors had prepared thousands of pages of evidence, including hours of videotaped police interrogations in which they say Crimo confessed to the shooting.
The attack left dozens wounded in the suburban community about 30 miles north of Chicago. Victims ranged in age from their 80s to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed. Witnesses recounted the chaos as gunfire erupted, sending families fleeing the parade route and abandoning chairs and strollers in their rush to seek shelter in nearby businesses and homes.
Crimo's criminal case saw multiple delays, partly due to his unpredictable courtroom behavior. In June 2024, he had been expected to accept a plea deal, allowing victims and their families to address him. However, he arrived in court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his legal team. He then fired his public defenders and announced he would represent himself, only to later reverse that decision.
The trial unfolded nearly two years after legal proceedings against Crimo's father, Robert Crimo Jr., who faced charges over his son's ability to obtain a firearm license. In 2019, at age 19, Crimo III required parental sponsorship to apply for a gun license. Despite a relative previously reporting that Crimo had threatened to "kill everyone" and possessed a collection of knives, his father sponsored the application. Robert Crimo Jr. later pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct.
In the wake of the tragedy, Highland Park officials canceled the annual Fourth of July parade in 2023 but reinstated it in 2024, incorporating a remembrance ceremony for the victims.
Those killed in the shooting were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.
