Robert Crimo III, the shooter who killed seven people and injured dozens during a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, 2022, was sentenced to life prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday.
Crimo was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences as well as 50 years in prison for each injured person, Judge Victoria A. Rossetti said on Thursday.
“This court hopes that this sentence will bring a sense of justice and the end of the horror continues,” said Rossetti.
Robert E. Crimo III arrives for his trial in the courtroom of judge Victoria A. Rossetti in Waukegan, ill., March 3, 2025.
Nam Y. Huh / AP
The penalty for determining the sentence, which started on Wednesday morning and finished on Thursday morning, included the testimony of several survivors and parents of those who were killed during the shooting during the independence day parade.
Crimo, 24, decided not to appear in court on Wednesday or Thursday. The parents of the shooter, who attended most of the legal proceedings, were not present either.
Regarding the absence of crimo, the state prosecutor of Lake, Eric Rinehart, said: “It is clear that he could not face what he had done”.
“Seven people lost their lives, but this community continued,” said Rinehart at a press conference held after the conviction. “There has always been strength in this community and this group of victims and survivors, and that contrasts if with what the offender did.”
Liz Nurnipseed, a survivor of the shooting, said that the conviction “closes a chapter” on this part of the life of his family.
“I no longer have to think of him, I no longer have to worry about him,” said the neighborhood at the press conference.
The survivors and family members, who expected to address Crimo directly during the sentence determination hearing, shared the impact that Crimo’s attack had on their lives.
Leah Sundheim, daughter of victim Jacqueline Sundheim, said that Crimo “launched the balance of this world” by killing his mother.
“I hope you wake up in the middle of the night, breathing in the air that you do not deserve,” Switheim told court on Wednesday.
Sundheim also read a statement on behalf of his father, Bruce Sundheim, who said that their family’s life had been destroyed by Crimo’s “violent anger”.
The personal effects abandoned near the scene of a shooting during a parade of July 4, on July 7, 2022 in Highland Park, Ill.
Jim vondruska / getty images, file
Marcia Moran, whose husband was shot dead by Crimo, said she had been in therapy for more than two years due to the emotional trauma. His family has since left Highland Park and now lives in Tennessee.
“The shooter can not take anything more,” said Moran in court via Zoom.
In March, Crimo pleaded guilty to 21 first degree murder leaders, with three charges for each person killed and dozens of murder attempts.
The survivor Ashbey Beasley, who fled the parade with her son when the shots broke out, said in March that the plea had brought “immense relief”.
“Every time I see [Crimo]It’s stressful, “she told journalists in March.” I think it’s overwhelming for everyone … The simple fact of knowing that his plea has entered and that we will not have to see him again is what we all need. “”
Crimo seemed ready to accept guilty plea last June during a hearing, to reject the agreement before the devastated members of the families of the victims. He was to plead guilty to seven counts of murder and 48 aggravated battery leaders with a firearm at the hearing at the time, according to the AP.
“We will have two years on July 4,” Sundheim said at a press conference at the time. “All I wanted was to be able to fully cry my mother without the imminent trial, knowing that he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison. And instead, we have once shown [Crimo’s] Complete and obvious contempt for humans. “”
Robert E. Crimo III arrives for his trial in the courtroom of judge Victoria A. Rossetti in Waukegan, ill., March 3, 2025.
Nam Y. Huh / AP
Crimo told the police that he was wearing female clothes during the shooting and used makeup to hide his facial tattoos and blend into the crowd during chaos, prosecutors said. Crimo was arrested a few hours later and the prosecutors said they had admitted the shooting.
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty last year for reckless driving, admitting the signing of the identity card of the owner of firearms so that his son asked for the possession of firearms two years before the shooting. As part of the advocacy agreement, Crimo Jr. was sentenced to 60 days in prison and two years of probation.
The youngest crimo was 19 years old at the time he obtained the card and too young to obtain a freezed card alone. Illinois at the time required that people aged 18, 19 or 20 were authorized by parents or tutors.
