March 3 (UPI) -- Robert E. "Bobby" Crimo III, pleaded guilty Monday at the start of the trial accusing him of carrying out a deadly mass shooting in Illinois on July 4, 2022.
Crimo, changed his plea to guilty on 21 counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of attempted murder in a surprise move at the start of the trial as opening statements were due to begin.
He had initially pleaded not guilty in August 2022 to 117 criminal charges as he was accused of killing seven people and injuring nearly 50 others when he opened fire from a rooftop during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
Crimo was expected to accept a plea deal in June 2024 but reneged to keep his plea of not guilty.
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The trial was expected to last three to five weeks and see nearly all shooting survivors take the stand.
Killed in the attack were 88-year-old Stephen Straus and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. Along with 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, Katherine Goldstein, 64 and 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim.
Last week, the now 24-year-old Crimo was present in the Lake County Courthouse as selection got underway for the 12 jurors and six alternates.
Crimo was arrested several hours after the Independence Day shooting and confessed to firing more than 80 rounds into the parade crowd from a nearby rooftop.
He was called "evil and manipulative" last year after his plea deal rejection.
After leaving the murder weapon from the Highland Park shooting in an alley near the scene, prosecutors said Crimo was armed with a second rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition while in Wisconsin and "seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison" after coming across a separate event.
"Following the attack, Crimo exited the roof, dropped his rifle, and he blended in with the crowd and escaped," Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli stated at the time.
Authorities said Crimo used a "high-powered" weapon in the shooting and purchased the gun legally in Illinois. Police found a second rifle inside Crimo's mother's car, which he was driving when he was arrested.
Authorities believe Crimo had planned the mass shooting for weeks.
He was dressed as a woman on the day of the attack and wore makeup to hide his facial tattoos to blend in with the crowd, according to the prosecution.
His father, Robert Crimo Jr., was charged separately as an accessory for aiding his then 19-year-old son in 2019 in obtaining the assault-style rifle used in the parade shooting. He was later sentenced to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to seven felony counts of reckless conduct, despite a relative reporting to police only months prior his son had a knife collection and threatened to "kill everyone."
Meanwhile, a lawsuit had been filed September 2022 by family members of three victims' families claiming gunmaker Smith & Wesson "facilitates violence for profit" and pushed advertising that encouraged young loners to carry out violent attacks.
Crimo faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
