Highland Park parade shooting suspect rejects plea deal
The Highland Park parade shooting suspect on Wednesday abruptly decided to not go through with a change of his not guilty plea.
Robert Crimo III fell silent when the judge asked if the agreement outlined by Lake County prosecutors was what he'd discussed with his lawyers. After a brief recess, Judge Victoria Rossetti asked if he wanted to continue with the plea deal. Crimo replied, "No."
Prosecutors said Crimo had agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of first-degree murder in connection with the mass shooting nearly two years ago. In all, he was to plead guilty to a total of 55 counts, prosecutors said.
He was to be sentenced to natural life, without the possibility of supervised release, for the murder charges. This would be served consecutively with a 30-year term for other charges.
Crimo was in a wheelchair at the hearing. Crimo requested a wheelchair because he was nervous and worried he would be unable to walk, Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Chris Covelli said. His hands and legs were shackled.
During the hearing, Crimo sat in the wheelchair and mostly looked forward, sometimes turning his eyes to the ceiling or clenching his jaw. When asked by the judge if he accepted the plea deal, Crimo paused and then looked over his left shoulder. It's unclear if he was looking at his family or the victims and their families in the gallery.
Antonio Romanucci, who was in the gallery and represents several victims in an ongoing civil case against the shooting suspect and others, said Crimo was looking at the victims to taunt them.
"When he looked back ... he wasn't looking at his family. He was looking to see who was there to observe, so he knew that he had an audience," Romanucci said.
"He knew that he was pulling at strings. When he wouldn't answer, and when they took him back and when he got back and had the chance to say 'No,' that was his opportunity to put his thumb in everyone's eye that was in that courtroom," he said.
Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart did not take questions from reporters. Instead, he made a short statement saying his office spoke to the victims and their families after the hearing to answer their questions.
"We met with them as long as they needed to. We are available for them, not only throughout the rest of the day but until this goes to trial. We will continue to support them. We will be ready for trial," Rinehart told reporters.
Walking out of the courthouse Wednesday, Crimo’s mother, Denise Pesina, called the hearing “a win.”
“I'm the proud mother of a faithful God-loving son, Robert Crimo III, also known as Bobby Crimo, who is innocent, and I have evidence that he is innocent,” Pesina said.
Pesina declined to say when she last spoke with her son.
Activist Ashbey Beasley, who attended the Fourth of July parade with her son, said she could feel the disappointment in the courtroom when Crimo decided not to change his plea.
“It's heartbreaking, and it shouldn't be happening,” Beasley told reporters outside the courthouse. “It should have never happened in the first place but to continually traumatize survivors and victims' families again and again is unspeakable.”
“It doesn't feel real, it feels like a game,” Beasley said.
Leah Sundheim, whose mother, Jacquelyn Sundheim, died in the shooting, said she and others came to the hearing for closure about the massacre and to "put it out of our minds."
"For two years, all I wanted was to be able to fully grieve my mom ... knowing he would spend the rest of his life in jail," Sundheim said. "Instead we were yet again shown his complete and blatant disregard for humans or anyone."
Karina Mendez, whose father, Eduardo Uvaldo, was killed in the attack, said preparing for the hearing Wednesday was an emotional process. And while she entered the day hopeful, she said she knew it was possible Crimo could reverse course.
“My dad was somebody who always said that if we did something we should say we did it and be accountable for what we do,” Mendez told reporters outside the courthouse.
“I know he's up there looking at us, telling us right now just to be patient and to let the court system do what they have to do. My dad was somebody who loved his family and we've stuck together through all this and we're gonna keep sticking together and being there for each other through this whole trial.”
The court hearing was highly anticipated, with victims and their families filling a section of the gallery that held about 70 people. They had come in anticipating of reading statements before the court on how the massacre affected their lives.
The court clerk's office expected the hearing to last most of the day and had scheduled the hearing in a larger court room to accommodate victims and their families.
Crimo was charged with 117 felony counts after the shooting that killed seven people and wounded 48 others. He's been held at the Lake County jail pending trial.
The next hearing in the case is Aug. 28. His trial is scheduled for February 2025.
Horror on the Fourth
The Lake County state's attorney's office accused Crimo of carrying out one of the deadliest mass shootings in Illinois history.
Prosecutors have said Crimo planned the attack for weeks before he opened fire from a rooftop overlooking the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade. Authorities said he disguised himself when he allegedly fired more than 70 rounds from an assault rifle overlooking Central Avenue and Second Street at 10:14 a.m. that morning.
Crimo initially fled in his mother's car. He allegedly headed toward Madison, Wisconsin, where authorities said he may have been considering a second attack. He was arrested near North Chicago later that day.
Crimo's motive in the attack is still unclear. He allegedly told investigators that he committed the attack to “wake people up,” according to a federal search warrant.
He was indicted on 117 felony counts in his August 2022 arraignment. Twenty-one of the counts were for the murders of seven victims — three counts for each of them. Prosecutors also charged Crimo with 48 counts of attempted murder, one for each of the wounded victims, and 48 counts of aggravated battery.
Killed in the massacre were Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Jacki Sundheim, Katherine Goldstein, Eduardo Uvaldo, Nicolas Toledo and Stephen Straus.