(NewsNation) — Robert E. Crimo III, the Illinois man who pleaded guilty to a shooting at an Independence Day parade in 2022, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A judge handed down seven consecutive life sentences on Thursday as requested by prosecutors for the first-degree murder charges.
Crimo, 24, changed his plea to guilty last month just moments before opening statements in his trial were set to start. The trial had a slow start due to Crimo backing out of a plea deal, firing his public defenders and reversing a decision to represent himself in court.
The shooting at the suburban Chicago parade left seven people dead and dozens more injured. The life sentences are meant for each victim and will run consecutively.
Crimo did not attend his sentencing hearing Wednesday or Thursday despite the judge’s warnings that the case would go on without him. He also declined to provide a written statement in court ahead of sentencing.
“He’s always known that he was facing life in prison,” Gregory Ticsay, Crimo’s public defender, said. “He has spared this community the lengthy trial.”
Keely Roberts, the mother of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts who was paralyzed as a result of the shooting, called Crimo “cowardly” for not attending the sentencing.
“You will not hear my grief,” Roberts said. “You are now irrelevant.”