Chicago gunman jailed for life for killing seven at Independence Day parade

A Chicago man who admitted shooting dead seven people and wounding dozens of others during a 2022 Independence Day parade has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti handed down seven consecutive sentences of life in prison, as prosecutors requested, for the first-degree murder charges after hearing emotional testimony from survivors and the relatives of those killed.

“This court has absolutely no words that could adequately describe and capture the horror and pain that was inflicted on July 4th,” the judge said.

Robert Crimo III, 24, “has a complete disregard for human life” and “is irretrievably depraved, permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt and beyond any rehabilitation”, she said.

After years of unpredictable legal proceedings, Crimo changed his plea to guilty last month just moments before opening statements at his trial.

Dozens were wounded in the shooting in the suburb north of Chicago. They ranged in age from their 80s to an eight-year-old boy who was left paralysed from the waist down.

Crimo refused to attend his sentencing hearing on Wednesday or Thursday despite Judge Rossetti’s previous warnings that the case would proceed without him. Crimo also declined to provide a written statement in court ahead of sentencing.

“He’s always known that he was facing life in prison,” said Crimo’s public defender Gregory Ticsay. “He has spared this community the lengthy trial.”

Survivors and witnesses told the court about how their lives have changed since he killed seven people and hurt dozens more.

Keely Roberts, whose eight-year-old son Cooper Roberts was the youngest victim, called Crimo “cowardly” for not attending.

“You will not hear my grief,” she said. “You are now irrelevant.”

It is unusual for defendants to skip trial, especially sentencing, but constitutionally they have the right not to attend, said David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago Kent College of Law.

Often in violent cases, defendants will explain themselves or profess innocence before sentencing.

“Certainly in crimes of violence it’s not unusual for a defendant to show some remorse,” Mr Erickson said.

Some survivors called Crimo a “monster” while another cited their faith in forgiving him. Many described feeling empty or facing deep sadness since the shooting. Some no longer attend public gatherings.

Erica Weeder described how she and her husband were injured and helpless on the ground, watching others bleed to death. For weeks, there was shrapnel in her body and a bullet lodged in her husband’s elbow.

“A mass shooting is like a bomb blast throughout a community,” she said.

Prosecutors argued that Crimo was fully in control of his actions as he fired 83 shots over 40 seconds.

“This was his evil plan. He intended to end the happiness that he saw around him,” said Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart.

Crimo pleaded guilty to 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — and 48 counts of attempted murder. Each first-degree murder count carries a maximum life sentence in Illinois.

Even in his absence, prosecutors made sure Crimo’s own words were heard on Wednesday, revealing parts of the trove of evidence prepared for trial, including key parts of Crimo’s videotaped confession.

In the interview, which defence attorneys tried to have thrown out, a blank-faced Crimo slumped in a chair with arms crossed. He told officers that he briefly reconsidered the attack because of a problem with the gun. He later fixed the weapon.

“I walked up the stairs, jumped on the roof and opened fire,” he said.

The seven people killed were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.

Crimo’s father Robert Crimo Jr, a former mayoral candidate, served less than two months in jail on charges in connection with how his son obtained a gun license.