Man pleads guilty to murder and attempted murder in shooting at suburban
Chicago July 4 parade
[March 04, 2025]
By SOPHIA TAREEN
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois man pleaded guilty Monday to killing
seven people and injuring dozens more when he opened fire on a 2022
Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, a stunning development
moments before opening statements in his trial on murder and attempted
murder charges.
Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E. Crimo III, 24,
withdrew his earlier not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting.
Prosecutors initially charged him with 21 counts of first-degree murder
— three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of
attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped 48 less serious counts of
aggravated battery before jury selection last week.
On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked
questions to be sure he understood before accepting the plea. He was
sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit.
“Is that what you went over with your attorneys?” Rossetti asked.
“Yes,” Crimo replied.
He gave mostly one-word answers to her follow-up questions. His mother,
Denise Pesina, had a brief outburst at the news and the judge gave her a
warning.
“We’re going to move forward," the judge said to her. “You are not a
party to this proceeding. If you would like to stay in the courtroom
please have a seat and be quiet.”
She was allowed to stay.
The judge said with the plea change, there would be no trial or further
motions. Jurors were never even let into the courtroom.
The legal proceedings have moved slowly, partly due to Crimo's
unpredictable behavior. Last year, Crimo was expected to accept a plea
deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly,
but changed his mind at the last minute, shocking even his attorneys.
He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself.
Then he abruptly reversed himself. As potential jurors were questioned
last week, he sporadically appeared in court, at times refusing to leave
his jail cell.
“He has knowingly and voluntarily waived those rights and pleaded
guilty,” Rossetti said Monday.
Prosecutors read the names of all those killed in the shooting and of
those injured, with the judge stopping to ask questions to make sure
Crimo understood. They went over the substantial evidence, including DNA
samples and a video-taped confession to police.
“Our community may never heal from the defendant’s calculated and
heinous actions that destroyed so many lives,” Lake County State’s
Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters after court. “He received nothing
in exchange for his plea. We were 1000% ready to go to trial and prove
him guilty to the jury. We have been working for years to prepare our
evidence.”
Sentencing will come April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of
his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a
maximum natural life prison sentence. Prosecutors said survivors would
get the chance to address Crimo at the sentencing.
Crimo didn't further address the court before leaving the courtroom.
His public defenders did not address reporters after the hearing.
Security was tight at the courthouse, with bag checks and observers
required to lock up their phones.
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Robert E. Crimo III arrives for his trial in Judge Victoria A.
Rossetti's courtroom in Waukegan, Ill., Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP
Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
The change of plea shocked those gathered in the courtroom,
including survivors and their families.
Ashbey Beasley, who attended the 2022 parade with her son, said it
was a huge relief. She said they had to run for their lives and even
though they weren’t injured, they have had to heal. Seeing Crimo at
hearings has added to their trauma.
“Every single time I see him, it’s stressful. It’s upsetting for
everyone in our community,” she told reporters after court. “We all
just wanted this to be over.”
A spokeswoman for a law firm representing dozens of survivors in a
lawsuit said they were ready to “pursue civil justice.” Survivors
and their families have filed multiple lawsuits, including against
the maker of the semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting and
against authorities they accuse of negligence.
“They have all gone home to process,” said Jennifer McGuffin with
Chicago-based Romanucci & Blandin LLC. “They each expressed an
individual and a collective sense of relief, but today was a very
emotional event and they are asking for some time and space to come
to terms with what happened.
The trial was expected to last about a month.
Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 30
miles (50 kilometers) north of Chicago. The wounded ranged in age
from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially
paralyzed.
Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic
as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn
chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or
homes.
Authorities said Crimo perched on a roof and fired into crowds.
His father, Robert Crimo Jr., a onetime mayoral candidate, was
charged in connection with how his son obtained a gun license. He
pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless
conduct and served less than two months in jail.
Residents in the wealthy Highland Park community of roughly 30,000
set along Lake Michigan have mourned the losses deeply. Some
potential jurors were excused because of their connections to the
case.
City leaders canceled the usual parade in 2023, opting for a
“community walk.” The parade was reinstated last year on a different
route and with a memorial for the victims.
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering called the plea change an
important step towards justice.
“Our thoughts and hearts remain with the families whose loved ones
were senselessly taken,” she told reporters Monday.
The victims killed in the shooting included 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.
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