Gunman Who Opened Fire on a Parade Gets Seven Life Sentences

New York Times

24-04-2025

The man who opened fire from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in a suburb of Chicago in 2022 was sentenced on Thursday to seven consecutive life sentences, one for each of the people he killed.
The man, Robert Crimo III, was also sentenced to a 50-year term in prison for attempted murder for each of the 48 people who were wounded at the parade but survived. He is not eligible for parole.
In reading the sentence, Judge Victoria A. Rossetti of Lake County Circuit Court called Mr. Crimo 'irretrievably depraved,' a man who has demonstrated no remorse for his crimes.
'No sentence can ever change the events of July 4,' she said. 'Nor can it compensate for the loss of a loved one or injured.'
About two dozen relatives of the victims gathered in the courtroom gallery to hear the sentence. Some of them sobbed; others leaned their heads on their relatives' shoulders for support.
Mr. Crimo avoided a trial in the case by pleading guilty in March to 69 criminal counts, including first-degree murder.
During the two-day sentencing hearing that began Wednesday morning, witnesses recounted the terror and chaos of the shooting, recalling how they fled with their families and saw people lying bloodied in the street.
In remarks to the court, Eric Rinehart, the Lake County state's attorney, described a community that was shattered. Mr. Crimo created 'an ocean of grief, pain, heartache and loss,' he said. 'Many believe that the sentence you give cannot redress this.'
Gregory Ticsay, a lawyer for Mr. Crimo, said in court on Thursday that Mr. Crimo had resigned himself to a life sentence.
'He has pleaded guilty with the understanding that he will spend the rest of his life in prison,' he said.
Mr. Crimo, who is being held in the Lake County jail, refused to appear at the hearing all day Wednesday and again on Thursday. Judge Rossetti said that the sentencing would go on without him.
'He was told if he did not appear, we could proceed in his absence, including the sentencing. so we will proceed,' Judge Rossetti said on Thursday.
Erica Weeder, who was wounded by shrapnel during the shooting, spoke in court on Thursday about the lasting effects that the shooting had on her psyche.
Now, she said, she is bothered by fireworks, by the loud noises of construction sites, by the rumble of the L train.
'I lost some of my deep keel,' she said. 'Some of my ability to bounce back from stressful events is simply gone.'
Killed in the shooting were Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Irina McCarthy, 35, and her husband, Kevin McCarthy, 37.