Man pleads guilty to murder and attempted murder in US July 4 parade shooting
Seven people were killed and dozens injured in the shooting in a Chicago suburb in 2022.
The man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more at a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder, just moments before opening arguments in his trial.
Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E Crimo III, 23, withdrew his earlier not guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting.
The trial started on February 24 with jury selection.
Prosecutors dropped the less serious 48 counts of aggravated battery before jury selection last week.
On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked questions to be sure he understood before any open plea was read to the court. He was sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit.
Sentencing will come on April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a natural life prison sentence.
Crimo did not further address the court or ask questions before leaving the courtroom.
The trial that began February 24 was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police.
Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Chicago.
The wounded ranged in age from their 80s down to an eight-year-old boy who was left partially paralysed.
Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes.
The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly because of Crimo’s unpredictable behaviour.
In June 2024, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, Crimo showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers.
The trial came almost two years after his father’s case focusing on how Crimo obtained a gun licence.
In 2019, at age 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a gun licence with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone”.
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jnr, pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanour counts of reckless conduct.
City leaders cancelled the annual parade in 2023 but reinstated it the following year with a remembrance ceremony for those killed.
Killed in the shooting were: Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.
