Accused Highland Park shooter’s trial postponed
The speedy trial Robert Crimo III requested last month when he was defending himself against charges he killed seven people and injured dozens more during Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade will not take place next month after all.
Anton Trizna, the defendant’s recently re-appointed Lake County public defender, asked that the Feb. 26, 2024 trial date be stricken. Trizna instead requested his client’s trial be held next year, beginning Feb. 24, 2025, the date on which he said prosecutors and defense attorneys previously agreed.
Citing the “considerable resources” the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office expended to prepare for next months’ trial, lead prosecutor Ben Dillon objected to a 2025 trial date. Dillon asked the defendant’s trial be set for later this year, possibly in September or October.
The former Highwood resident is charged with opening fire from a downtown Highland Park rooftop about 10:15 a.m. July 4, 2022.
Highland Park residents Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; and husband and wife Kevin and Irina McCarthy, 37 and 35, were killed, along with Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan. Nearly 50 people, ranging in age from 8 to 88, were wounded.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti indicated she would consider setting another trial date possibly at the defendant’s next hearing on Feb. 21.
Last week, Rossetti reappointed the Lake County Public Defender’s Office to represent the defendant, who in December indicated he intended to proceed pro se, meaning he would act as his own attorney. He withdrew that request last week, resulting in Trizna’s reappointment.
The accused remains in custody at the Lake County jail.