The young man who fatally shot seven people at a July 4 parade in suburban Chicago pleaded guilty Monday, moments before his trial was set to begin.
Robert Crimo III, 24, stunned the courtroom in Lake County, Ill., when he reversed his earlier not guilty plea. He gave several one-word responses indicating that he understood his actions.
Judge Victoria Rossetti accepted Crimo’s plea and set a sentencing date for April 23. Because Crimo pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder, he is set to spend the rest of his life in prison.
“He has knowingly and voluntarily waived [his] rights and pleaded guilty,” Rossetti said to the shocked courtroom.
Perched on a rooftop, Crimo unleashed terror on the Highland Park Independence Day parade in 2022, gunning down seven people and wounding 48 others. In his plea Monday, he admitted to all 48 counts of attempted murder.
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, were killed in the shooting.
Extensive evidence connected Crimo the crime, including fingerprints on the gun used in the shooting. Crimo also confessed to investigators in videotaped interrogations.
Crimo made several conflicting moves throughout the legal process. In June 2024, he was expected to accept a plea deal in the case, but he unexpected reversed his decision in court, surprising even his own attorneys.
Later in the case, Crimo briefly fired his lawyers and said he planned to defend himself, only to later reverse that decision too.
Jurors were selected ahead of the anticipated trial, but they did not even have a chance to enter the courtroom before Crimo pleaded guilty Monday.
With News Wire Services
