The jury selection will start in the suspect’s crime trial in the Chicago Parade suburban of July 4

The man accused of opening fire in a suburban parade of Independence Day in Chicago, killing seven people, is to be judged, almost three years after the attack.

The jury selection begins on Monday after several delays. Part of the reason is the irregular behavior of the defendant, Robert Crimo III, who raised questions about what to expect.

attack

The authorities support a gunman crouched on a roof shot at the crowds assembled for a parade of July 4 in the center of Highland Park, a luxury suburb of 30 miles (50 kilometers) by Chicago.

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

Witnesses described the confusion while the shootings called, followed by terror while families abandoned the parade route, leaving behind the lawn chairs and strollers to find safety in houses and business.

The leaders of the city canceled the parade the following year, but reinstalled it in 2024 with a memorial for victims.

Mayor Nancy Rotering said the city does not want to be defined by the mass shooting. This month, she announced that the parade will return to July, but without fireworks, partly due to “community trauma”.

“This year’s theme reminds us that teams bring together people in support of a common goal and that we are the most resistant when we support each other,” Rotering said.

The shot at the shooting were: Katherine Goldstein, 64 years old; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63 years old; Stephen Straus, 88 years old; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69 years old; And he married the Kevin McCarthy couple, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.

case

Crimo is experiencing 21 charges of murder of the 1st grade – three accusations for each person killed – as well as 48 charges of attempted murder and 48 aggravated battery charges.

The prosecutors sent over 10,000 pages of evidence, as well as hours of video interrogation during which the police say that Crimo confessed the shot. But, since then, the 24-year-old Crimo has pleaded and rejected a plea agreement.

The judicial procedures have made the parties of the interrogation public, and the defense lawyers have tried without success to remove the videos, claiming that the Crimo rights were violated.

The videos show the officers who repeatedly ask Crimo if he understood his rights Miranda, who include the right to remain silent and have a lawyer present.

“I have heard them a million times,” Crimo said at one point.

Prosecutors also showed images of a person dressed in women’s clothing and identified by the police while Crimo headed for the parade route on the morning of July 4, 2022.

Something that could hurt and defense is the unpredictable behavior of crimo in court.

It was not presented up to two previous court hearings, refusing to leave the prison cell in Lake County. And in June 2024, when it was expected to accept a plea agreement and give the victims and relatives the chance to address the public, he presented to the court in a wheelchair and rejected the agreement, even surprising his lawyers. He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself, then suddenly reversed.

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

Crimo’s defense lawyers and Lake County prosecutors have repeatedly refused comments before the trial.

Family

Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., was guilty in 2023 for seven offenses of reckless conduct. The accusations focused on how his son obtained a weapon license.

In 2019, at 19, Crimo III was allowed to request only a weapon license with the sponsorship of a parent or tutor. His father agreed, even though a relative reported to the police that his son had a collection of knives and threatened to “kill everyone.”

Crimo Jr., a candidate for the mayor and was the owner of a deli now closed, participated in the hearings of his son’s court, making visual contact with him during the hearings. He refused to discuss the case in detail.

“As a parent, I love my son very much and Bobby loves this country more than you ever knew,” he said during a telephone interview. “I have no comment.”

jury

Potential jurors are due Monday at the Wakegan Court for what lawyers expect to be a monthly trial. But the case with a high profile could complicate efforts to find a jury.

The survivors and their families have submitted several processes, including against the manufacturer of the semiautomatic kid used for shooting and against the authorities they accuse of negligence.

Those who spoke refused interviews before the trial. Some are expected to testify, together with the police and a former school resources officer who met Crimo during high school and high school.

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

“There is information that exists,” said Alan Tuerkheimer, who consults lawyers about the jury strategy, but is not involved in the process. “This is the kind of things that have affected people in the community.”