Rekubit Exchange:Highland Park shooting suspect backs out of plea deal

The Rekubit Exchangeman charged with killing seven people and injuring dozens more at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, in 2022 rejected a plea deal Wednesday, according to multiple media reports.

Robert Crimo III, 23, had agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of first-degree murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the attack, according to the Lake County State's Attorney's office. He would have been sentenced life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But during a court hearing Wednesday, Crimo did not respond when asked if he agreed with the plea and then left the courtroom in a wheelchair to speak with his attorneys. When he returned and was asked again if he accepted the terms of the agreement, he answered "No," the Chicago Tribune reported.

He will now stand trial on Feb. 25, 2025. The public defender's officer, which is representing him, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Leah Sundheim, whose mother Jacki Lovi Sundheim, 63, was killed in the shooting, called Crimo "evil and manipulative" during a news conference outside the courthouse Wednesday.

"We have Fourth of July coming up and it will be two years and all I wanted was to fully grieve my mom without the looming trial knowing that he is going to spend the rest of his life in jail, and instead we were yet again shown his complete and blatant disregard for humans or anyone, all of us in that courtroom," Sundheim said. "Instead, we now get to sit and wait weeks and months of more hearings and unknowns that we just have to live with until hopefully in February."

Karina Mendez, whose father 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo was killed in the shooting, said the weeks leading up to the hearing had been emotional for her and she had hoped for closure Wednesday.

"We knew this could happen and we were hoping for the best," she said. "But we're patient with the court system."

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters the trial team and victim support specialists met Wednesday with the victims and survivors of the attack inside the courtroom, which he said was "an unusual procedure but necessary in light of what happened today."

“We have worked closely with the victims over the last few days and weeks in anticipation of today. We will continue to support them," Rinehart said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The entire trial team and group of victim support specialists met with victims and survivors for as long as they wanted today, and we will be ready for trial.”

Though prosecutors let victims and survivors know a change of plea was possible, there was no way for them to prepare for the reality of what happened, according to Lance Northcutt, an attorney representing the family of Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin Michael McCarthy, 37, who were killed in the attack. The couple was survived by their 4-year-old son Aiden and his grandmother Margo McCarthy, who was also shot during the parade.

"Mercifully, the McCarthy family was not in court to see what happened today," Northcutt said. "But for Aiden's grandparents, for friends and family who care for him and the parents that have been lost this is certainly another painful chapter in a horrible, horrible tragedy that doesn't seem to have any endpoint."

Tony Romanucci, who is representing dozens of victims in a civil lawsuit against Smith & Wesson, online gun distributor Bud’s Gun Shop, Illinois gun retailer Red Dot Arms, Crimo, and Crimo's father, called Crimo's behavior unpredictable and said he can't recall the last time he witnessed such a change of plea.

"It has happened," he said. "But this is not typical. It is not usual."

Romanucci, who has been involved in a number of high profile cases including the civil lawsuit following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, told USA TODAY he's concerned his clients will be retraumatized during the trial.

"They were looking for some closure and clearly, they were looking for accountability. They wanted to see him in jail for the rest of his life. Hard stop, right there," he said. "They have to go through the trial now, and although we all think we know what the outcome is, there are always uncertainties with trial."

Contributing: Reuters