Highland Park parade shooting victims share their pain at gunman's lengthy sentencing hearing
The sentencing hearing for Robert Crimo III, the convicted shooter in the 2022 Highland Park Fourth of July Parade began on Wednesday in Lake County, Illinois.
Robert Crimo III pleaded guilty last month to 21 counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of attempted first-degree murder just moments before opening statements were set to begin in his trial.
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.
Another 48 people were wounded in the shooting, including Cooper Roberts, then 8, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Highland Park gunman skips sentencing hearing
His sentencing hearing was a chance for his surviving victims to speak directly to him, but they did not get that chance. The convicted shooter was told multiple times that his trial and now his sentencing would happen with or without him, and he chose not to attend his sentencing.
Still witnesses and victims one by one took the stand on an emotional day for everyone in the courtroom.
Victims of the 2022 mass shooting and their families listened as witnesses answered questions in detail about what happened that day.
Retired Highland Park Police Commander Gerry Cameron, who was at the scene of the shooting, and led the investigation into the attack, talked about personally transporting three people to the hospital after Crimo started shooting – killing seven people and wounding 48 others.
Highland Park resident Dana Ruder Ring took the stand. She was at the parade with her husband and three children. She said she had thought the parade started earlier than it did, and so that day they thought they had "good seats."
When the shooting began, they hid in a pile of people before rushing to a nearby parking garage.
She said someone came to the garage shaken, carrying a child. She took the child, examined him, and tried to figure out who he was and where his parents were.
Instead of saying his name, he insisted his parents would come find him.
Later, Ruder Ring would learn his name was Aiden McCarthy, ,and both of his parents – Irina and Kevin McCarthy – had been killed.
Wednesday was the first day Ruder Ring met one of Aiden's grandparents.
McCarthy family attorney Lance Northcutt described it as "a very poignant moment."
"What we heard in there, the description of the carnage that we heard in there, is just something that's difficult to fathom," he added.
Others testified — including Dr. Jeremy Smiley, who was at the parade, escaped with is family, and reported for duty at Highland Park Hospital. He found a young child "listless" and "lying on the gurney."
That child was Cooper Roberts — the then 8-year-old boy who was paralyzed in the shooting. His mother was in court on Wednesday.
Prosecutors also aired Crimo's videotaped confession during an officer's testimony. A cavalier Crimo detailed walking up the stairs and jumping onto the roof of a business along the parade route before he started shooting.
Victim impact statements continued throughout the day on Wednesday, and neighbors hugged each other tightly; a painful step towards some justice bringing back memories of a horrible day.
Leah Sundheim, whose mother, Jacki Sundheim, was killed in the shooting, read a statement on behalf of herself and her father, saying Crimo had murdered his soulmate, and describing how she abandoned her career to take care of her father after the shooting.
Another victim's relative testified he forgave Crimo because of his religious beliefs.
The sentencing hearing proceedings wrapped for the day around 5 p.m. and were set to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
What sentence does Crimo face?
"He's going to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The only question is whether it will be concurrent or consecutive seven life sentences," CBS News Chicago Legal Analyst Irv Miller said.
A sentence of seven consecutive life terms would make it more difficult for a future governor to grant him any clemency that could someday set him free.
Crimo's sentencing hearing is expected to continue on Thursday. More than 50 impacted statements recounting the shooting are expected over the course of the hearing.
Crimo repeatedly failed to attend court proceedings in his case before ultimately pleading guilty. During the three days of jury selection, he was only in court for the first half of each of the first two days, and was not in court at all on the final day of jury selection.
