Highland Park parade shooter changes plea to guilty on first day of trial

The Highland Park parade shooter has changed his plea to guilty on the first day of the trial. 

Robert Crimo III is pleading guilty to all 21 counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of attempted murder. He was accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens more at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade in 2022.

The suspect rejected a plea deal last summer.    

Crimo will likely spend life in prison without the possibility of parole.   

Opening statements were set to begin Monday. Last week, 12 jurors and six alternates were chosen.  

The jury included a man who owns a trucking company, a hospice nurse, a part-time college student dreaming of becoming a firefighter and paramedic, and a woman whose great-grandfather shot two police officers in 1916.

The shooting suspect did not attend the final day of jury selection on Wednesday. During the first two days of jury selection, he was in court for the first half but did not return after each day’s lunch break.

Most of the 48 survivors were expected to take the stand during the trial, which is expected to last 3 to 5 weeks. 

Those who were killed in the shooting included 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, 35-year-old Irina McCarthy, 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy, 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim, 88-year-old Stephen Straus, 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, and 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo.

For anyone who needs support during the trial, the United Way of Lake County offers 24/7 help by dialing 211.  

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