The man declares himself guilty of murder and attempted murder in shooting at the July 4 parade in near Chicago

Waukegan, Illinois – A man from Illinois declared himself guilty on Monday of killing seven people and hurting more dozens when he opened fire for a 2022 independence day parade in a suburb of Chicago, a surprising development moments before opening statements in his trial on murder and murder attempts.

Appearing in a Lake County Circuit room, Robert E. Crimto III, 24, withdrew his previous non -guilty plea in Highland Park shooting.

Prosecutors initially accused him of 21 positions of first degree murder, three positions for each person murdered, as well as 48 positions of murder attempt. Prosecutors fell 48 less serious charges of aggravated aggression before the jury selection last week.

On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Cruco and asked questions to ensure that she understood before any open statement to the Court was read. He was sitting next to his lawyers with a dark suit.

“Is that what you went to with your lawyers?” Rossetti asked.

“Yes,” he answered the judge.

He gave mostly answers to his follow -up questions. His mother, Denise Pesina, had a brief outbreak in the news and was called to the judge for a warning.

“We are going to advance,” the judge told him. “You are not part of this procedure. If you want to stay in the courtroom, have a seat and calm. ”

He was allowed to stay.

The judge said that with the change in the statement of guilt, there would be no trial or additional motions. The jury members, who were elected last week, had not even let themselves into the courtroom when the replacement change occurred.

Legal procedures have moved slowly, partly due to Crimto’s unpredictable behavior. Last year, Crimpo was expected to accept a guilt and give victims and family the opportunity to address him publicly, but changed his mind at the last minute, even surprising his lawyers.

He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself. Then it was abruptly reversed. As the potential jury interrogated last week, he appeared sporadically in court, sometimes refusing to leave his jail cell.

“He has resigned from and voluntarily those rights and declared himself guilty,” Rossetti said Monday.

The prosecutors read the names of all those killed in the shooting and the injured, and the judge stopped to ask questions to ensure that Crimto is understood. They reviewed substantial evidence, including statements to the police that admits the mass shooting.

The sentence will come on April 23, but position will surely spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each first -degree murder charge involves a maximum natural life sentence.

Crimpo did not add up to the Court before leaving the courtroom.

Its public defenders, who have refused to comment during legal procedures, did not add up to journalists after the hearing.

Security was very tight in court, with multiple bag controls and observers required to block their phones. The crowd that hoped to hear opening statements included survivors and their relatives.

The change of plea surprised those gathered in the courtroom.

Ashbey Beasley, who attended the 2022 parade with his son, said it was a great relief. She said they had to run through their lives and, although they were not injured, they have had to heal. See Cry at the audiences has been added to your trauma.

“Every time I see it, it is stressful. It is annoying for everyone in our community, ”he told reporters after the court. “We all wanted this to end.”

A spokeswoman for a law firm that represents dozens of survivors in a lawsuit said they were ready to “follow civil justice.” 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.

“Everyone has gone home to process,” said Jennifer McGuffin with Romanucci & Blandin LLC, based in Chicago. “Each one expressed a feeling of individual and collective relief, but today it was a very emotional event and are asking for a time and space to accept what happened.

The trial was expected to last approximately one month with the testimony of the survivors and the police. Prosecutors had presented thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a video recorded on video during which the police say that Crimto confessed the shooting.

Dozens of people were injured in the shooting in the suburb at about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Chicago. The injured ranged from 80 years of age to an 8 -year -old boy who was partially paralyzed.

The witnesses described the confusion when the shots began, followed by panic when the families fled from the center of the center’s parade, leaving the garden chairs and strollers behind to find security within the companies or nearby homes.

The authorities said Crimto perched on a roof and shot the crowds.

His father, Robert Crimeo Jr., a candidate for mayor in time, was accused in relation to how his son obtained a weapons license. He declared himself guilty in 2023 of seven minor crimes of reckless conduct and turned less than two months in jail.

The residents of the rich Highland Park community of approximately 30,000 sets along the Michigan Lake have deeply cried the losses. Some members of the potential jury were excused due to their connections with the case.

The city leaders canceled the usual parade in 2023, opting for a “community walk.” The parade was restored last year on a different route and with a monument for the victims.

“Our community is remembered once again the immense pain and the trauma caused by the shooting in Highland Park,” said Highland Park mayor Nancy Rothering, in a statement before the jury selection. “Our hearts remain with the victims, their families and all those whose lives were changed forever for that devastating day.”

The victims killed in the shooting included 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.