Trial date set for Highland Park parade shooting suspect Robert Crimo III

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) -- A Lake County judge set a trial date for the accused Highland Park shooter Wednesday.

Robert Crimo III will go on trial Feb. 24, 2025.

He was originally supposed to go on trial this month.

But Crimo decided to defend himself, and then changed his mind.

His attorneys asked for extra time to prepare.

Crimo faces more than a hundred counts of murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery over the 2022 Fourth of July shooting that left seven dead and dozens wounded.

"There was no earthly way defending himself would have been to his benefit," ABC7 Legal Analyst Gil Soffer said. "Somebody talked some sense into him."

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., already served time for his role in signing off on his son's firearm owners identification card.

Crimo's attorney had asked the judge to put the trial off until next year, in February of 2025. Prosecutors said they worked to prepare for the scheduled date next month, so they preferred to have the trial later this year.

Experts say this is an elaborate case that will likely last several weeks.

"There are thousands of pages of evidence and hundreds of witnesses to prepare for," Soffer said.