Highland Park shooting suspect’s trial date set for 2025
The man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more during Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade will have his day in court next February.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti set Robert Crimo III’s murder trial for Feb. 24, 2025, during a brief court hearing Wednesday.
The former Highwood resident is charged with executing a mass shooting from a downtown Highland Park rooftop about 10:15 a.m. July 4, 2022. The gunfire killed Highland Park residents Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; and Kevin McCarthy, 37, and his wife Irina McCarthy, 35. Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan also were killed in the attack. Nearly 50 people, ranging in age from 8 to 88, were wounded.
The 23-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted of two or more counts of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
The trial previously had been set to begin early next year, but was shifted to Feb. 26 after the defendant announced he intended to represent himself and demanded a speedy trial. He then reversed his decision and requested a public defender, so the trial date was changed.
Lead prosecutor Ben Dillon requested the trial take place this fall, in September or October, citing the time and resources the prosecution team had expended to prepare for a speedy trial.
Rossetti said the date will remain in February 2025, the original date, reasoning the defendant’s brief stint in representing himself does not warrant a change.
In a written statement released after Wednesday’s court hearing, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said his office would be ready for trial this month and will be ready in February 2025.
“Our team of prosecutors and victim specialist have been meeting with and talking with the victims since this horrible crime. We will continue to do so,” he said. “The most important thing is that we secure certain justice as best as we can for the victims, families, survivors, and the entire Lake County community.”
The defendant remains incarcerated in an administrative segregation unit at the Lake County jail. Authorities placed him there after they say he violated jail rules by using another inmate’s PIN number to call his mother after his phone privileges were suspended for threatening corrections officers.
He is scheduled to return to court April 24.