Parade Shooter Learns Sentence In Deadly Illinois Mass Shooting

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Highland Park Independence Day Parade shooter was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole on Thursday for the 2022 mass shooting.

Robert Crimo III did not attend victim impact statements Wednesday or his sentencing Thursday and declined to make a statement to the court, according to his lawyer. According to NBC News, it didn't appear that any of Crimo's family was in attendance.

"The idea that he would not be there to face so many of these families whose suffering was going to be laid bare in that courtroom, that didn't surprise me, or I think a lot of people. While it certainly was frustrating, it's in keeping with the actions of a coward, which is precisely what he is," said lawyer Lance Northcutt, who is representing a young boy who lost his parents, Kevin and Irina McCarthy, in the shooting.

Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting, ranging in age from their 80s to 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was left paralyzed.

The seven people killed in the shooting were Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. Cooper Roberts, then 8, was shot and paralyzed.

Over the last two days, witnesses and families of victims gave testimony, describing the day as a "post-apocalyptic scene" of bodies in the street and bullet-ridden lawn chairs and strollers.

"It went from watching a parade to utter chaos," testified Dana Ruder Ring, who attended the parade with her husband and three kids. "We just had to keep going. We just knew that staying still was not a safe idea, and we were terrified."

The mood in the courtroom Wednesday was incredibly solemn, Northcutt said, as witnesses and experts presented details about the aftermath that many hadn't heard before. According to one FBI technician who testified, when Kevin McCarthy was found that day, he was holding his son Aiden's shoe and a toy.

Aiden, then 2-years-old, was covered in blood that didn't belong to him, but likely to his parents.

"Hearing things like that was painful beyond measure for these people, and I think that you could see that in the faces in the courtroom," Northcutt told Patch.

Sen Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) was at the parade when gunshots went off, saying what was meant to be a day of celebration turned into an unspeakable tragedy.

“This is an emotional day for the Highland Park community. We’ve heard survivors’ stories of heartbreak, courage and resilience, and the weight of this day will forever linger," Morrison said in a statement. “Today’s outcome brings some closure, but it cannot erase the pain of what was lost. We’ve stood together, united in grief and motivated to act, and as we continue to heal, we will do so together.”

Crimo, now 23, shocked the court when he switched his not guilty plea to a guilty plea last month at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan.

Going forward, Northcutt said he and other lawyers representing victims are focusing on holding all parties that contributed to the crime accountable.

"Today marked the beginning of the end of the criminal justice process with respect to the shooter, and what we will be doing now from this point forward in a civil courtroom, is focusing our attention on seeking true accountability for all parties who were responsible for this tragedy," Northcutt said.

Many family members and survivors of the mass shooting have filed lawsuits against Smith & Wesson, alleging the gun maker continued to market and sell its gun, pushing it to teenagers despite its use in four of the most tragic mass shootings over the last decade in Aurora, CO, San Bernardino, CA, Parkland, FL and Poway, CA.

On April 1, an Illinois court ruled the wrongful death lawsuits against the company, which created the "M&P 15" AR-15-style weapon used in the shooting, would proceed to trial. The court also allowed claims against BudsGunShop.com and Red Dot Arms, the gun dealers who ultimately sold the gun to shooter Robert Crimo, to go forward.