The Lake County State’s Attorney and Highland Park Mayor speak after Highland Park shooter sentencing. The convict has not shown any remorse following the mass murder that he committed, according to Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart (CBS Chicago). YouTube Tips ⓘ
Today, Robert E. Crimo III, the offender of the Highland Park Parade shooting case was sentenced to seven consecutive terms of natural life in prison– without the possibility of parole. The offender pled guilty to 21 counts of first-degree murder on March 3, 2025. The natural life sentence is the maximum sentence for murder in Illinois.
In addition to the seven consecutive life sentences, the Honorable Judge Victoria Rossetti imposed 50 years in prison for each of the 48 Attempt Murder charges that the offender was convicted of (via plea). Under the law, those 48 sentences of fifty years are concurrent to each other, and that fifty years is consecutive to the seven life sentences. The fifty-year sentence constitutes the maximum possible sentence for Attempt Murder.
There were emotional reactions from family members when the Honorable Judge Victoria Rossetti read the sentencing Thursday, April 24, 2025. Victim impact statements were hear Wednesday and Thursday.
Victim’s family attorney Antonio Romanucci spoke at a news conference after sentencing hearing for Robert E. Crimo III at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Illinois on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
The offender did not appear in Court, but Judge Rossetti did instruct the defense counsel to advise him of his right to challenge the sentence by withdrawing his plea.
At one point there was confusion that the convict wanted to appear in court for the sentencing hearing, and court was delayed about one hour. However, the convict had an issue with jail staff taking his religious books, including the his Quran. Then it was clarified that the convict did not want to appear in court for the sentencing hearing.
In making the office’s sentencing recommendation, State’s Attorney Rinehart commented:
In the middle of a beautiful day celebrating America, 83 shots rang out in 40 seconds that would change everything. 83 attempts to hurt people, 83 attempts to terrorize a community, 83 attempts to kill. 83 attempts to reduce the light of the world. This was his evil plan: to end the happiness he saw around him.
This offender caused an ocean of grief, pain, trauma heartache and loss. What should have been a day of baseball, music, and laughter became a day about “rifle teams,” “reinforcements,” “trauma centers,” “bullet holes,” “broken glass” and “broken hearts.”
But in the midst of this, hundreds of people acted heroically to assist others, to gather loved ones, to lift a child, or to simply make eye contact with each other to re-establish a human connection.
While he took only a few seconds on July 4 to end and alter lives, we know from the excellent work of Brian Bodden and Maureen Mazola that these seconds … these 83 attempts to change the world — were preceded by cold, calculating, and detailed planning.
You heard how he studied “response time” and surveilled the downtown area and police for weeks. This is a new level of pre-meditation.
After highlighting some of the different experiences that victims and survivors shared with the Court, Rinehart concluded:
I know the Court has noticed how often I have used the word “attempt.” Even though there was loss of life, loss of love, loss of years of happiness … the offender failed in extinguishing the light from the good and wonderful people who experienced this crime.
Their light will always go on through the memories and great and small acts that everyone described in this Courtroom and in their statements.
In the name of Katie Goldstein, Jacki Sundheim, Nicolas Toledo Zaragoza, Eduardo Uvaldo, Kevin McCarthy, Irina McCarthy, and Stephen Straus and all of those who have suffered, the People of the State of Illinois request the maximum sentence on all counts.
After Court, in a brief press conference, Rinehart again thanked the City of Highland Park, victim support professionals, the trial prosecutors, State’s Attorney investigators, and all of the employees of the State’s Attorney’s Office who assisted in securing justice in the courtroom.
Rinehart concluded:
I want to take a moment to praise law enforcement’s efforts in this case. This is something I have not been able to talk about as much while the case was pending.
Law enforcement not only protected the community immediately after the shooting, but they also conducted an excellent investigation. Without this investigation and the interrogation of the offender by Detective Brian Bodden and FBI Special Agent Maureen Mazzola, we would not have had this day. If this offender had even one inch of an argument, he would have gone to trial.
Law enforcement’s ability to get a statement in this case slammed the door shut for him. We heard his confession in his own words. This confession, along with DNA evidence, trajectory evidence, video footage, and eyewitnesses, removes all doubt as to his guilt.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office will continue to stand with every victim and survivor and provide the support they need to move forward.
Robert Crimo III, who pleaded guilty in the 2022 Highland Park Independence Day parade shooting, was sentenced to seven life sentences Thursday. Crimo was sentenced to seven natural life sentences, one for each of the seven victims, to run consecutively without the possibility of parole. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti handed down the sentence after emotional testimony from survivors and the relatives of those killed in the shooting (LiveNOW from FOX). YouTube Tips ⓘ
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