Aspiring rapper who killed seven people in July 4 parade shooting in Illinois pleads guilty to 69 charges
The trial of Robert E. Crimo III, 23, began February 24 and had been expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police
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The man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens of others at a Fourth of July parade in 2022 pleaded guilty Monday, just moments before opening arguments in his trial.
Robert E. Crimo III, 23, appeared in the Lake County circuit courtroom wearing a dark suit where he withdrew his not-guilty plea and pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting that unfolded in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago.
“Is that what you went over with your attorneys?” Judge Victoria Rossetti asked Crimo after she read the charges. “Yes,” he replied to the judge.
He gave one-word answers, indicating he understood the charges. His mother, Denise Pesina, had a brief outburst at the news and was called up to the judge for a warning, but was ultimately allowed to stay.
Crimo’s trial, which began on February 24 with jury selection, was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police.
Prosecutors submitted thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting, the Associated Press reported.
Crimo, an aspiring rapper who went by the name Awake the Rapper, was initially charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. But prosecutors dropped the less serious 48 counts of aggravated battery before jury selection last week. In the end he pleaded guilty to a total of 69 charges of murder and attempted murder.
Authorities alleged Crimo perched on a roof and fired into crowds assembled for the annual Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park in 2022.
The victims 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. Dozens more were injured, including an eight-year-old boy, Cooper Roberts, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a bullet severed his spinal column.
The parade was canceled in 2023, with city leaders instead opting instead for a “community walk.” The parade was reinstated last year on a different route and with a memorial for the victims.
In June 2024, Crimo was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly. But he showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers.
The trial came nearly two years after his father’s case in which he was charged in connection with how his son obtained a gun license.
In 2023, Robert Crimo Jr., a one-time mayoral candidate, pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and served less than two months in jail.
Crimo was only 19 years old in 2019 and was only allowed to apply for a gun license 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.”
Sentencing is set for April 23. Crimo faces up to life in prison. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011.