Life Sentence Handed Down for Shooter Who Killed During July Fourth Parade

The suburban Chicago man who admitted to fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens of others during a 2022 Independence Day parade was sentenced Thursday 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 in the shooting.

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

Crimo changed his mind as the judge was handing down his sentence, according to Lake County authorities. Rossetti paused the proceedings Thursday so that he could be brought to court.

Dozens were wounded in the shooting in the suburb north of Chicago. They ranged in age from their 80s to an 8-year-old boy who was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Rossetti has warned Crimo 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 8-year-old son Cooper Roberts was the youngest victim, called Crimo “cowardly” for not attending Wednesday's hearing.

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

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.

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

Crimo was calm and cavalier, even laughing and joking, said Brian Bodden, a Highland Park police officer.