Over the past year, alleged Highland Park parade shooter Robert Crimo III planned to defend himself in court, and then stood ready to plead guilty to the 2022 mass shooting before abruptly changing his mind and opting for a February 2025 trial.
Along the way, Crimo’s courtroom appearances featured the defendant mugging for the cameras, forcing law enforcement personnel to bring him to court in a wheelchair and acting as if he was bored by the proceedings.
The continuing courtroom twists and turns made the Crimo saga one of the Lake County News-Sun’s top stories of 2024.
As the year ended, prosecutors said they were on track to try Crimo starting on Feb. 24 on 21 counts of first-degree murder and dozens of other felonies for allegedly climbing onto a downtown Highland Park building and opening fire on the crowd assembled to see the city’s July 4, 2022 Independence Day parade. Seven people died in the attack and dozens more were injured.
After a hearing on Dec. 18, State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart declined to comment on the case, other than to say his office agreed with a favorable pretrial ruling handed down that day by Judge Victoria Rossetti.
“We remain on schedule for a trial in February,” Rinehart said in a brief media statement.
There have been several surprises as Crimo’s case continued toward trial
In late 2023, Crimo abruptly fired his lawyers from the Lake County Public Defenders Office. Crimo said he wanted to defend himself, and asked for a trial as soon as possible. That trial was scheduled for February 2024. However, at a Jan. 5, 2024, hearing, Crimo changed course and asked to have his lawyers reinstated.
In June, prosecutors reported that a plea deal had been arranged. But when the case was called on June 26, and the judge asked Crimo if he agreed to the terms that included a life sentence, he said no.
His lawyers quietly conferred with him for several minutes as a gallery crowded with survivors and family members of those killed — who had come to court expecting a resolution — looked on. But Crimo stuck with his decision to reject the plea agreement, and the case continued on a track toward trial.
In the final significant legal action of the year, Judge Rossetti ruled this month that Crimo’s due process rights had not been violated during police questioning that took place on the night of the shootings and the day after.
His lawyers argued that a lawyer hired by his family should have been given access to Crimo, but the judge ruled that the defendant had knowingly and voluntarily declined to speak with counsel.
The case will be back in court in January so that attorneys can prepare with the judge for the February trial. Should Crimo be found guilty on all charges, he would face a sentence of natural life in prison.
