Trial for Highland Park parade shooting suspect starts Monday

More than 2½ years after a gunman fired into a crowd gathered for Highland Park’s annual Independence Day parade, jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the man charged with killing seven people and injuring nearly 50 others that day.

The trial is expected to include wrenching eyewitness testimony from survivors and victims’ family members, more than 50 of whom have filed lawsuits against the gun manufacturer, distributor and retailer as well as the defendant — Robert E. Crimo III — and his father, who helped his son get a gun before he turned 21.

A spokeswoman for Romanucci & Blandin, one of several law firms representing complainants, declined to comment on the criminal case. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering in a statement Friday expressed support for the victims and their families as the trial begins.

“The trial, overseen by Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart and his office, represents a critical moment in the pursuit of accountability for this horrific act of violence,” Rotering said. “This trial brings us closer to the truth and acknowledgment of the harm done.”

Neither the Lake County state’s attorney nor the Lake County public defender’s office, which represents the accused, responded to requests for comment on the upcoming trial and the tragedy that transpired on a sunny July 4 day.

That morning, revelers gathered for the Independence Day celebration in Highland Park, where the annual parade is so popular folks arrive early to save spots along the route and sidewalk crowds often are five rows deep.

As parade viewers set up chairs and positioned strollers, marchers — high school band members, football players, elected officials and representatives of community organizations — gathered at the First Street and Laurel Avenue staging area.

Festivities turned into horror at 10:14 a.m., when dozens of shots rang out from a rooftop along the Central Avenue route.

Chaos erupted. Spectators dropped to the sidewalk desperate to escape the gunfire from a military-style, semiautomatic rifle. Adults grabbed children and ran for cover, abandoning lawn chairs, strollers and other belongings. Others sought shelter at local businesses whose employees welcomed fleeing survivors.

Police sprang into action. A video shows officers racing toward the sound of gunshots as civilians fled in the opposite direction. In the aftermath, survivors shared stories of parents shielding children and spectators helping strangers.

The attack lasted about a minute. It ended with seven people dead and dozens of others, ranging in age from 8 to 88, injured.

Among the deceased were five Highland Park residents and two visitors. Highland Park residents included Katherine Goldstein, 64, an avid bird watcher and world traveler; art lover and consummate joke teller Stephen Straus, who at 88 still worked five days a week; 63-year-old Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, a lifelong member of North Shore Congregation Israel who taught preschool and coordinated bar and bat mitzvah celebrations; Kevin McCarthy, a 37-year-old husband and father who had a zest for life, and his wife, Stevenson High School alumna Irina McCarthy, 35, known for her smile and can-do attitude. They left behind a 2-year-old son.

Also killed in the attack were Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, who was visiting from his home in Morelos, Mexico; and Waukegan resident Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, a happy man whose wife and 13-year-old grandson were injured that day.

While hospital personnel awaited arrival of the injured, authorities recovered the military-style rifle they believed the shooter used. It was found on a roof.

Meanwhile, Highland Park police, with assistance from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, searched the village and neighboring communities for a person of interest whom they described as a white male, age 18 to 20, with longish hair driving a 2010 silver Honda Fit.

The suspect remained at large for eight hours until a North Chicago police officer spotted his vehicle at Buckley and Route 41 and attempted a traffic stop. The driver fled, but police stopped his vehicle at Westleigh Road and Route 41 in Lake Forest and took him into custody.

The suspect soon was charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder along with dozens of other related crimes. Denied bail, he has been locked up in the Lake County jail since.

In December 2023, the defendant informed Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti that he intended to dismiss his public defenders and represent himself. Less than a month later, he changed his mind and asked Lake County public defenders be reappointed. Rossetti obliged.

About five months later, the Lake County state’s attorney’s office indicated the defendant intended to admit guilt under a plea bargain that would see him sentenced to life in prison. But during a June 26, 2024 court hearing, as victims’ families and survivors looked on in the courtroom, he backed out of the deal, sending the case to trial.

Outraged family members of victims described his behavior as “evil and manipulative.” An attorney representing Kevin and Irina McCarthy’s family said it “was nothing more than a revictimization of that family and every family that has endured this tragedy.”

In December, Rossetti denied defense attorneys’ motion to exclude from trial incriminating statements the defendant made after his arrest, rejecting arguments his constitutional rights had been violated.

“It is evident to the court there was no use of coercion, deceit or intimidation to prevent the defendant from speaking to attorney,” said Rossetti, adding that he was “fully aware of his Miranda rights and his right to counsel.”

Jury selection is expected to take a week or longer, followed by a trial that could last five or six weeks.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250222/news/trial-of-accused-highland-park-parade-shooter-set-to-begin-monday/