Jury selection to begin at the trial for murder of the suspect in the July 4 parade of Chicago

The authorities allege an armed man perched on a ceiling to the crowds gathered for a parade on July 4 in the center of Highland Park, an exclusive suburb at 30 miles (50 kilometers) in Chicago.

Seven people were killed in the 2022 shooting, including both parents of a small child. Most were injured. They were an age from their 80s to an 8 -year -old boy who was partially paralyzed.

The witnesses described the confusion when the shots sounded, followed by horror when the families left the route of the parade, leaving behind the garden chairs and the strollers to find security within the houses and businesses.

The city leaders canceled the parade the following year, but they restored it in 2024 with a monument for the victims.

The mayor Nancy Rothering has said that the city does not want to be defined by the mass shooting. This month, he announced that the parade will return in July, but without fireworks, partly due to the “community trauma.”

“This year’s parade reminds us that teams join people in support of a common goal, and that we are more resistant when we support each other,” Rotothering said.

They died in the shooting: Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; And he married the Kevin McCarthy couple, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.

Position faces 21 first -degree murder positions, three positions for each person murdered, as well as 48 positions of murder attempt and 48 charges of aggravated aggression.

Prosecutors have delivered about 10,000 pages of evidence, as well as hours of an interrogation with video tape during which the police say that Crimto confessed the shooting. But since then, the 24 -year position declared himself innocent and rejected a guilt agreement.

The judicial procedures have been part of the interrogation public, and the defense lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have rejected the videos, claiming that the rights of charge were violated.

The videos show the officers asking repeatedly in charge if he understood their rights of Miranda, which include the right to remain silent and have a lawyer present.

“I have heard them a million times,” he said in a moment.

Prosecutors have also shown images of a person dressed in women’s clothes and identified by the police when Corro went to the parade route on the morning of July 4, 2022.

Something that could also damage defense is the unpredictable behavior of charge in court.

He did not present up to two previous judicial hearings, refusing to leave his cell from Lake County prison. And in June 2024, when it was expected to accept a guilt agreement and give victims and relatives the opportunity to address it publicly, the agreement was presented to the Court and rejected the agreement, even surprising their lawyers . He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself, then he was abruptly reversed.

“Anything could happen at this time,” said Eric Johnson, a law professor at the University of Illinois.

Defensor lawyers and Lake County prosecutors have repeatedly rejected comments before trial.

Crimto’s father, Robert Crimto Jr., declared himself guilty in 2023 of seven minor crimes of reckless conduct. The charges focused on how their son obtained a weapons license.

In 2019, at 19, position III was only allowed to request a weapons license with the sponsorship of a father or guardian. His father agreed, although a relative had informed the police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.”

Position Jr., a candidate for mayor and former owner of a Deli now closed, has attended his son’s judicial hearings, making visual contact with him during the hearings. He refused to discuss the case in detail.

“As a father, I love my son and Bobby loves this country more than anyone knows,” he said during a telephone interview. “I have no more comments.”

The potential jury is due in the Waukegan court on Monday, so lawyers hope to be a one -month trial. But the high profile case could complicate efforts to find a jury.

The survivors and their families have filed multiple demands, even against the semi -automatic rifle manufacturer used in the shooting and against the authorities they accuse of negligence.

Those who have spoken rejected interviews before trial. Some are expected to testify, together with the Police and a former School Resources officer who met Crimpo during the intermediate and secondary school.

Experts say that lawyers will have to approach the jury selection with additional care.

“There is information that is out there,” said Alan Tuerkheimer, who consults lawyers about the jury’s strategy, but is not involved in the trial. “This is the type of thing that has affected people in the community.”