‘Important step toward justice’: Highland Park parade shooting suspect pleads guilty

Survivors of the mass shooting at Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade and family members of victims took one step closer to justice Monday, when the Highwood man accused of carrying out the attack entered a guilty plea that will see him spend the rest of his life in prison.

Just minutes before his trial was to begin, Robert E. Crimo III, 24, admitted to 21 counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of attempted first-degree murder, charges that alleged he perched atop a roof along the parade route and fired dozens of shot from a high-powered rifle into the crowd.

The defendant killed seven people and wounded 48 others. He will receive a life term when he is sentenced April 23, in what will surely be an emotional hearing that will include statements from victims’ family members and survivors of the tragedy that rocked the quiet, North Shore suburb.

Highland Park residents Katherine Goldstein, 64; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; and Kevin McCarthy, 37, and his wife Irina McCarthy, 35, were killed in the shooting. Also killed were Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.

“Today’s guilty plea is an important step toward justice, but does not erase the pain,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a written statement.

“Our thoughts and hearts remain with the families whose loved ones were senselessly taken, those who were injured, and everyone whose lives were forever changed by this horrific act.”

Monday’s plea deal comes after Lake County prosecutors and the defendant’s attorneys spent last week selecting 12 jurors and six alternates to hear his trial, which was expected to last as long as six weeks.

The defendant, who has been incarcerated in the Lake County jail since his arrest, answered a clear, quiet “yes” to questions Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti posed about his understanding of his guilty plea and the mandatory life sentence that accompanies it.

He also indicated he had discussed his plea with his attorneys, that he was not on any medication and that no one had threatened him or promised him anything of value in return for admitting guilt.

At the announcement that her son was changing his plea, the defendant’s mother interrupted the hearing, prompting Rossetti to admonish her to control her emotions.

“You are not a party to this proceeding,” the judge said. “If you would like to stay in this courtroom please have a seat and be quiet.”

Acknowledging the seven victims who lost their lives that day and the 48 survivors “who bled, who cried, who may never heal,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart emphatically stated the defendant’s change in plea did not result from any negotiations.

“Let me be clear … this was not a deal, “Rinehart said. ”(The defendant) made a free decision to plead guilty to every count that was about to be presented to a jury. He received nothing in exchange for this plea today.”

“We were 1,000% ready to go to trial and to prove him guilty to the jury,” he added, citing a “mountain of evidence” that included DNA testing, fingerprint identification, firearm records, video surveillance, identification evidence that put him in the alley walking up to the roof, on the roof, and descending from the roof right after the shooting.

Rinehart noted that the defendant also confessed to police after his arrest.

“His admissions he made at that time would have confirmed every piece of physical evidence, trajectory analysis, ballistics reports, DNA conclusions, and eyewitness testimony,” he said.

The state’s attorney’s victim services division remains dedicated to uplifting “all who lost a loved one” or were affected by the mass shooting.

Rinehart also praised the “heroes who ran toward the gunfire” — the first responders, police, EMTs, fire department professionals and civilians — “community members, residents, regular people — all of whom helped others without hesitating”

The defendant’s guilty plea marks the beginning of a path to healing, said survivor Ashbey Beasley, who was in the courtroom Monday. She said survivors and victims’ family members felt a “huge sense of relief” upon hearing the defendant’s guilty plea.

The relief comes in part from not having to relive the trauma they experienced that day, said Beasley, who was with her then 6-year-old son when they heard shots and ran for their lives.

“Every time I see him (the defendant) it’s stressful,” she said. “Knowing a plea has been entered, we don’t have to see him again.”

Beasley hopes that the tragedy will prompt gun legislation on the federal level.

“It’s important to learn that this could happen to any of us,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Highland Park resident who was at the parade the day of the shooting, said Monday’s plea helps bring a sense of closure to the community.

“July 4, 2022 left a deep scar on the Highland Park community, one that will never fully heal,” he said in a written statement. “But with the strength of a united community, the love from neighboring villages and towns, and the resolve to do all we can to stop this from happening again, Highland Park is standing strong and on the path to healing.”

A spokeswoman for Romanucci and Blandin, a law firm representing several survivors and family members in civil actions against the gun manufacturer, retailer and others, echoed Beasley’s statements.

“The victims and survivors are intensely relieved at what transpired in court,” said Jennifer McGuffin, adding that the lawyers “remain committed to civil justice” for their clients.