WAUKEGAN, Ill. — A judge postponed the trial of a man accused of killing seven people during a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb in 2022 after his lawyer asked Wednesday for more time to review evidence. The trial was due to start next month and no new date has yet been set.
Robert Crimo III, 23, is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery for the shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. Dozens of people, including children, were injured.
Authorities have said Crimo confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a roof in Highland Park and then fled to the area around Madison, Wisconsin, where he considered shooting up another parade.
Wednesday’s postponement follows weeks of uncertainty in the case. Crimo fired his public defenders in December because he planned to represent himself, and he asked the judge to move his trial date from February 2025 to next month. Crimo rehired its lawyers last week.
Lake County Assistant Attorney General Anton Trizna asked Judge Victoria Rossetti Wednesday to push back the Feb. 26 trial date to February 2025.
Prosecutors said in December that they had turned over nearly 10,000 pages of case information to the defense team, and Trizna told Rossetti on Wednesday that he has since received additional material to review.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart requested the trial start in September or October of this year, instead of February 2025. Rossetti agreed to postpone the trial but did not set a new date.
The judge told attorneys to discuss whether they could be prepared for a fall trial before the next scheduled hearing, set for Feb. 21.
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Savage is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.