(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Lake County Judge says critical video evidence in the case against the Highland Park parade shooting suspect will be allowed at his trial next year.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti has declined to throw out statements made by Robert Crimo III, who's charged with fatally shooting seven people and injuring 48 others at the Highland Park Fourth of July Parade in 2022.
Defense attorneys argued Crimo was denied his right to a lawyer during a police interview after the shootings.
However, Rosetti said a video clearly shows Crimo waiving his right to remain silent and declining to see a lawyer.
Rossetti described the interview as “conversational and non-threatening with an informal and relaxed atmosphere.”
“I've heard them a million times,” Crimo said at one point about his rights.
Authorities have said Crimo, 24, confessed to the Highland Park shooting. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including multiple first-degree murder counts. Jury selection in the trial is scheduled to start Feb. 24.
Dozens of people were wounded, including an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed. There was panic as families fled the parade through downtown Highland Park, a suburb of about 30,000 people near Lake Michigan.
Those killed in the attack 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.
Jury selection in the case starts Feb. 24.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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