Highland Park parade shooting suspect rejects plea deal in courtroom shock – NBC Chicago

In a stunning surprise in court that brought tears and heightened emotions to many, the man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more during a March 4 parade July 2022 in suburban Highland Park rejected a plea deal Wednesday.

Robert Crimo III is scheduled to go on trial in February 2025 on more than 100 charges, including murder and attempted murder, for the shooting in Highland Park that killed seven people and injured 48. Lake County prosecutors have confirmed last week that Crimo had to change his file. pleaded not guilty at a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, about a week before the second anniversary of the mass shooting.

The deal would have meant the alleged shooter pleaded guilty to 55 counts – seven counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm – while all other charges against him would have been rejected. Crimo would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

But with dozens of survivors and victims' families present, as well as the father of the alleged shooter, Crimo III stood silently, looking at those seated behind him in court, as a judge asked him if he had agreed to change his plea.

The suspect and his lawyers abruptly left the courtroom for several minutes, before returning to reject the deal.

The change marks a disappointment for survivors, their families and those who lost loved ones in the attack, many of whom were hoping for closure as the second anniversary of the tragic shooting approaches. Tears were visible in the courtroom as the decision was announced.

After the hearing, victim support staff and prosecutors held a closed-door meeting with the families in attendance, many of them preparing to speak once a plea deal was reached.

The criminal case has been moving slowly for months. At one point, Crimo insisted he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself. He abruptly reversed this decision a few weeks later.

Authorities said the accused shooter confessed to police days after opening fire from a rooftop in Highland Park, an affluent North Shore suburb on Lake Michigan that is home to about 30,000 people. They said he first fled to the Madison, Wis., area and contemplated a second shooting at a parade there, but returned to the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Those killed in the attack were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78 years old; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.

The McCarthys' 2-year-old son was found alone at the scene and was eventually reunited with his extended family members.

All were from the Highland Park area, except for Toledo-Zaragoza, who was visiting family in the city of Morelos, Mexico.

The violence drew attention to Highland Park's 2013 ban on semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Illinois officials have long argued that legal and illegal guns are easily purchased in neighboring states, hampering the effectiveness of even the strictest local laws.

Authorities said Crimo, a resident of nearby Highwood, purchased the rifle legally. But he first applied for a state firearms license in 2019, when he was 19, too young to apply independently in Illinois.

His father sponsored the request, even though police reports show that a few months earlier, a relative had reported to police that Crimo III had threatened to “kill everyone” and made several threats to kill himself.

Prosecutors initially charged the father, Robert Crimo Jr., with seven counts of reckless driving and he pleaded guilty in November to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless driving. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and released early for good behavior.