CHICAGO – The suspected gunman within the July 4 mass murder in Highland Park, Illinois, on Wednesday rejected a plea deal that will have resulted in a life sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Ben Dillon said Robert Crimo III will plead guilty to seven counts of murder and 48 counts of aggravated assault. He can be sentenced to life in prison without parole and a further 30 years for every count of aggravated assault.
When asked if he would comply with the confession, Crimo surprisingly didn’t answer. His lawyers took a break to debate the cope with him again.
The deputies had brought Crimo into the courtroom in a wheelchair. He looked sullen and stared straight ahead.
After consulting along with his lawyers outside the courtroom, Crimo was pushed back inside and refused to comply with the confession. When asked if he agreed to the conditions outlined by the prosecution, he said, “No.”
He was then escorted out of the courtroom because the hearing for the day ended. The case is scheduled to be heard in February 2025.
Following the agreement, the victims and their families were expected to present emotional testimony about how the shooting affected them before Judge Victoria Rossetti announced the sentence.
State Attorney Eric Rinehart had previously stated that his office had contacted those affected before agreeing to the plea.
“We continue to work with victims and survivors as the situation evolves,” he said.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said additional officers could be available for sentencing.
Crimo was charged with 117 felonies. Prosecutors said he climbed atop a store in downtown Highland Park and fired a high-powered rifle at the group gathered for the parade.
Police say he disguised himself as a lady to flee through the panicked crowd and drove to Wisconsin before returning to Illinois later that day, where a North Chicago police officer pursued and arrested him. He has been in jail ever since.
Killed within the tragedy were Kevin and Irina McCarthy, parents protecting their then two-year-old son Aiden, who survived.
Others killed included Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park; Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.
Among the roughly 4 dozen injured was Cooper Roberts, who was eight years old on the time and was paralyzed within the shooting. His twin brother Luke was also injured.
The Roberts family had previously said in a press release that the injured were “shaken but alive and able to hold on.”
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