Could Robert Crimo’s parents face charges over Highland Park shooting?
Criminal attorney Katherine Fernandez speaks to The Independent about the likelihood that the Crimos will face charges over the 4 July massacre
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Questions continue to mount around whether Robert Crimo III’s parents, Bob Crimo and Denise Pesina, could face charges over the Highland Park mass shooting that left seven innocent parade-goers dead.
Their 21-year-old son is accused of scaling a building overlooking the July 4 parade in Highland Park on Monday morning and taking up a sniper stance with his high-powered assault.
Mr Crimo allegedly opened fire on the local residents, families and groups of friends who had gathered to enjoy the day, spraying at least 83 rounds into the crowd.
Seven victims were killed in the attack, with dozens more injured -- including an eight-year-old boy who is now paralysed from the waist down.
Mr Crimo is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder with prosecutors saying that more charges are on the way.
As of Friday, neither of Mr Crimo’s parents have been charged with a crime and investigators have not accused them of having any prior knowledge of their son’s plans.
What is the parents’ connection?
In 2019, Highland Park Police were called to two separate incidents at the family home involving Mr Crimo including one where he allegedly threatened to kill his family members.
On 5 September 2019, officers responded to a wellbeing check after Mr Crimo had “stated that he was going to kill everyone” in the home.
The victim, a family member who was a minor at the time, said that they were “afraid to go home due to the nature of this threat” and because there was “a collection of knives in [Mr Crimo’s] bedroom”.
The then-18-year-old suspect admitted to officers that he was “depressed” and had a history of drug use, according to a police report released by Illinois State Police.
Police confiscated a trove of knives from his bedroom at the time, including a 24-inch Samurai type sword, a 12-inch dagger and a tin lunch box with 16 hand knives.
But, according to the police report, Ms Pesina and her son were not forthcoming about what the threats were.
Mr Crimo’s father also spoke to officers about the incident and claimed the knives were his. He said he’d been storing them in his son’s room for “safekeeping”.
Just four hours later, Mr Crimo’s father collected the trove of weapons from police,
Just five months earlier, in April, police had been called to the home for the first time when Mr Crimo allegedly tried to kill himself with a machete.
Despite these repeated warning signs about Mr Crimo’s disturbing behaviour, Mr Crimo’s father sponsored his son’s application for a state gun ownership permit – an FOID card – in December. For reference, that’s just three months after the teenager had threatened to kill his family.
As Mr Crimo was 19 at the time, a parent or guardian had to sponsor the application. In January 2020, the ISP approved the FOID application.
Mr Crimo then legally bought five firearms over the next two years – including the high-powered Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle he allegedly used in Monday’s attack.
Meanwhile, police said Mr Crimo returned to his mother’s home as soon as he committed Monday’s massacre and then “borrowed” her car to flee the area.
He drove the vehicle all the way to Wisconsin – where he was allegedly contemplating carrying out a second attack – before returning to Illinois where he was arrested.
Officials previously said they did not believe Mr Crimo told his mother what he had done.
Could the parents face charges?
Katherine Fernandez, criminal defense attorney at the Law Offices of Julie Rendelman in New York, tells The Independent that charges against the parents are very unlikely.
“The father clearly may not have been the most diligent parent,” she said when he sponsored his son’s FOID months after he threatened to harm himself and others.
“And so you could argue that he knew or that a reasonable person should have known that his son had mental health issues and could be a risk to himself or others. But does it rise to the level of a crime? I don’t think so.”
To make a criminal case against Bob Crimo, prosecutors would need to prove either his intent or recklessness led to his son’s alleged actions.
While Bob Crimo sponsored his son’s application when he was underage, at the time of the shooting Mr Crimo was 21 – and so no longer needed a sponsor for his FOID.
“I don’t think what the father did recklessly caused the deaths of people,” she said.
“As people could say this kid is now an adult and so would have done it anyway... I don’t think they’d be able to meet the high burden that him sponsoring it in 2019 led to the direct result [in 2022].”
However – while she expects it to be unsuccessful – Ms Fernandez said she expects prosecutors could try to charge the father to make “a statement”.
“They’ll definitely try but I don’t think they’ll be able to meet the burden of crime,” she said.
“But you start going down a slippery slope if you start charging parents over what their kids have done when they’re not even kids under the law at that time.”
When it comes to Mr Crimo’s mother, the attorney said she also doesn’t think any charges would stick.
“Based on what we know now, the mother won’t be charged,” she said, given that there has been no evidence so far that she gave her son the vehicle knowing what he had allegedly just done.
“The government would have to look for some sort of evidence that she actively aided and abbetted her son,” she said.
“So, if there ends up being text messages or phone calls back and forth or anything to show that she gave him access to her vehicle to aid and abbett him, and that she either knew or had reason to know what he had just done [then that could result in charges].
“But if the son knew where the keys were and the mother just didn’t lock away the car keys that’s not enough... the key is being an active participant.”
What about civil lawsuits?
However, where Ms Fernandez doesn’t think there’s a case for criminal charges, she said she does expect Bob Crimo to face civil action over his involvement in his son’s FOID.
“[Mr Crimo’s] father is definitely going to be sued civilly,” she said.
“Negligence is not a crime but that is where civil lawsuits come in and I think he’ll definitely face civil action.”
When a parent or guardian sponsors a minor for an FOID in Illinois, they must sign an affidavit.
In the affidavit, the sponsor agrees that they are liable for damages resulting from the applicant’s use of firearms.
“I hereby give my consent for this minor applicant to possess and acquire firearms and firearm ammunition and understand I shall be liable for any damages resulting from the minor applicant’s use of firearms or firearm ammunition,” reads the document.
Has it ever been done before?
It’s extremely rare for the parents of mass shooters to be charged in connection to their children’s crimes.
However, in December, a Michigan prosecutor set precedent by charging the parents of Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter.
The then-15-year-old gunman is charged with murdering four of his fellow students inside Oxford High School on 30 November.
Days after he was arrested at the scene, James and Jennifer Crumbley were also arrested and charged.
Prosecutors said that the Crumbley parents bought their underage son the firearm used in the massacre as an early Christmas present and left it accessible to him in their home.
They also ignored multiple warning signs about their son’s behaviour and refused to take him out of the school hours before the shooting after staff members told them he needed urgent mental healthcare, said prosecutors.
Announcing the charges, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said: “While the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on November 30 and it’s my intention to hold them accountable as well.”
Ms Fernandez told The Independent the two cases are very different – especially given that Ethan Crumbley was a minor and his parents allegedly gave him access to a gun.
“The evidence there is stronger,” she said.
Mr Crumbley was a 15-year-old minor at the time of his alleged offense, compared to Mr Crimo being a 21-year-old adult at the time of his.
The Crumbleys also allegedly bought their son the gun and the mass shooting took place just days after they had done so – compared to over two years passing between Bob Crimo’s involvement in his son’s FOID application.
Ms Fernandez said that it’s very rare to charge parents because you have to prove their action or inaction is directly correlated to what happened.
She said: “It is still the deviation from the norm to charge the parents as you don’t generally want to hold parents to account for the failings of their children.”