The man who killed seven people and wounded nearly 50 more in an Independence Day mass shooting in suburban Chicago in 2022 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on April 24.

Robert Crimo III, 24, unexpectedly pleaded guilty to 69 counts of murder and attempted murder in March for the July 4, 2022, shooting during a parade in Highland Park, Illinois. The plea abruptly ended what would have likely been a lengthy trial.

Judge Victoria A. Rossetti announced the sentence of seven consecutive life sentences. Crimo, who did not attend the hearing, received the maximum sentence as Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011.

Rossetti said Crimo showed a “complete disregard for human life” and is “beyond rehabilitation.”

“This has absolutely no words that could capture the horror and pain that was inflicted on July 4,” she said.

On April 23 and 24, multiple people took to the witness stand to provide testimony about the day of the rampage, including a commander, a doctor and a woman who had attended the parade with her family. Victims of the attack also addressed the court and spoke of the devastating impact the shooting has had on their lives.

Erica Weeder, a survivor of the shooting who was wounded along with her husband, John, told the court she still suffers mentally from the traumatic incident. “My brain was rewired,” she said, describing how she is sensitive to noises and how the shooting took away her “ability to bounce back from stressful a event.”

Leah Sundheim, whose mother Jacqueline Sundheim was killed in the attack, said the rampage threw her world off balance. In a statement addressed to the gunman, she said “I hope you wake in the middle of the night, gasping air you don’t deserve.”

Dana Rudder Ring attended the parade with her husband and three young children and described the scene of “utter chaos” that broke out when the gunfire started.

She and her family fled to an underground garage over broken glass and amid the terrified screams of the parade crowd. They encountered a young boy who was “covered in blood,” Ring said through tears. After attempting to find his parents, Ring brought him to her in-laws’ home, where they cleaned him and waited for police.

That night, officers picked up the boy to reunite him with his family. Ring eventually discovered that the young boy was 2-year-old Aidan McCarthy, whose parents, Kevin and Irina, were both killed in the attack.

What happened in the Highland Park shooting?

Crimo fired on the crowd from a rooftop on July 4, 2022, spraying more than 70 bullets, police said. He then fled and disguised himself as a woman to evade authorities in the chaos and was captured later that evening after a manhunt.

The seven people killed were Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Irina McCarthy, 35; Kevin McCarthy, 37; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; and Stephen Straus, 88.

Crimo had a history of erratic behavior and had been visited twice by police in the years before the attack, including in 2019 when authorities confiscated several knives because Crimo had threatened to “kill everyone” in his house. The rifle he used in the shooting was legally purchased.

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty in November 2023 to seven counts of reckless conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 100 hours of community service for agreeing to sponsor his son’s gun license application.

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Sentencing hearing comes after whirlwind court proceedings

Crimo was expected to be tried before a jury before announcing his guilty pleas. Jury selection had already been completed and opening statements were about to begin March 3.

It wasn’t the first time he had seemingly changed his mind unexpectedly. In 2024, Crimo agreed to plead guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder and battery charges but backed out of the plea deal during a hearing in June. He pleaded not guilty instead, compelling the judge to set a trial date.

Ashley Beasley, who was at the parade with her son when the shooting broke out, told reporters outside the courtroom on March 3 that she felt an “immense amount of relief” when she heard Crimo pleaded guilty.

“I think there is a huge collective feeling of relief,” she said. “Our community wanted justice.”

Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and John Bacon, USA TODAY