Jury selection began Monday in Lake County Court in the case of Robert Crimo III, who is charged in the mass shooting that killed seven people at the 2022 Independence Day parade in Highland Park.
At the conclusion of the morning session, attorneys had agreed on three people who will eventually decide whether Crimo is guilty of first-degree murder and numerous counts of attempted murder in the attack that injured more than 40 parade spectators.
The first day of the trial began at about 10:30 a.m. when Judge Victoria Rossetti brought in the first group of potential jurors, a dozen people who were then questioned individually by the judge, prosecutors led by State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart and Crimo’s legal team from the Public Defender’s Office.
The first juror chosen was a middle-aged woman who said she works as a business analyst. A man who operates a truck repair business and a woman who works as a nurse in hospice care were also chosen before the lunch break.
While jury selection was scheduled to continue Monday afternoon, the jurors selected during the morning session were dismissed until March 3, when opening statements and the presentation of evidence are expected to begin. The judge told jurors that the trial will likely last three to five weeks.
Before jury selection began, prosecutors told the judge they were dropping 47 of the more than 100 counts Crimo faced for aggravated battery with a firearm. Prosecutors did not say in court why they were dropping the charges, though it is not unusual to drop some counts for trial-strategy reasons. The dropped charges would not affect the lifetime in prison Crimo would get should he be found guilty of two or more murder charges.
Authorities say Crimo climbed onto a building in downtown Highland Park on July 4, 2022, and used an assault rifle to fire on the crowd assembled to participate in and watch the city’s parade. He was able to escape the area in the aftermath of the shooting, police said, but was identified as a suspect and taken into custody later that day. He has since remained in jail.
Crimo’s parents were in court as jury selection began. Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that he acted recklessly when he signed forms that allowed his then-underaged son to receive his firearm owner’s ID card that allowed him to buy the rifle he allegedly used in the parade shooting.
Crimo Jr. released a statement via his attorney George Gomez Monday saying he supported his son’s right to go to trial.
“I love my son very much,” the defendant’s father said. “Like any human being in this country, Bobby deserves the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. No matter what happens, you will always be my son.”
