Judge rules accused Highland Park parade shooter's videotape confession can be used in trial
CHICAGO (CBS) — The Highland Park July 4th parade shooting suspect appeared in Lake County court on Wednesday, where a judge ruled on two issues regarding evidence identifying the suspect and a video confession.
The suspect, Robert Crimo III, is facing seven counts of first-degree murder and dozens of other charges related to the 2022 mass shooting. He has remained in the custody of the Lake County Jail since he was charged.
Videotaped confession ruling
On Wednesday, Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti ruled the usage of the suspect's videotaped confession is admissible. She read transcripts of recorded conversations with the suspect talking with investigators.
The judge said the defendant's right to counsel was not denied. She said the defendant was properly informed of his rights but chose to continue providing confessional statements.
The transcriptions read during the hearing show investigators continuously asked Crimo if he would like to make a call or talk to a lawyer. The suspect continuously denied the offers.
Portions of his videotaped confession were previously played in court. The defense argued that an attorney hired by the suspected shooter's father was not allowed in the room as the confession was taken, but the state showed that the suspect can be heard on the confession video declining to speak with that attorney—who was waiting in the lobby.
The attorney also signed several Miranda rights waivers over the course of a two-day interview.
Crimo will next appear in court at 11 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2025.
Resource officer Identification ruling
The suspect's former school resource officer who interacted with the accused shooter in middle school and high school — Highland Park police Sgt. Brian Soldano — identified him in photos from the scene on July 4, 2022.
On Wednesday, Rossetti ruled that the resource officer could properly identify the suspect in this case. Rossetti said the resource officer can properly identify the suspect in this case because he had a familiarity with the suspect for six years.
Soldano gave testimony about two meetings with Crimo in 2014 and 2015 for disciplinary issues. Prosecutors then entered photos and videos of the accused shooter walking up a ramp just before the shooting and then running down just after. Soldano said the person in the photos and videos was Crimo.
The defense initially said the police sergeant did not know the suspect well enough to identify him.
Based on the judge's ruling, Soldano can testify during the trial, which is currently scheduled for February 2025.
Suspect rejects plea deal
Prosecutors had offered Crimo a plea deal involving a guilty plea to 55 charges, including seven counts of murder and only 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. Under the plea, the accused shooter would have been sentenced to natural life imprisonment.
In June, Crimo rejected the plea deal.
The victims in the Independence Day parade attack were 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, of Highland Park; 35-year-old Irina McCarthy, of Highland Park; 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy, of Highland Park; 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim, of Highland Park; 88-year-old Stephen Straus, of Highland Park; 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, of Morelos, Mexico; and 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo, of Waukegan.
A total of 48 people were also wounded in the shooting. Among them was Cooper Roberts, then 8, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
