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CHICAGO – The Highland Park Independence Day parade parade in which suspect Robert Crimo III’s mother had a troubled past, marred by allegations of abuse against her ex-boyfriend and other clashes with the law, according to court documents.
Denise Pesina, 48, is also said to have left Crimo III, 21, in a hot car when he was a toddler and completed 100 hours of community service for drink-driving in 2012.
Court documents from Lake County shed additional light on Crimo III’s difficult childhood and his mother’s tumultuous past.
On Monday, the 21-year-old was charged with killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more after climbing onto a roof over a party on July 4 and then opening fire.
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Police arrest Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, the suspect in the mass shooting that killed seven people and injured dozens of others during a Fourth of July parade.
(Associated Press/ Katherine Rappel/ Highland Park Police)
“Growing up in such a traumatic environment can create an imbalance,” said John Kelly, a criminal profiler and psychotherapist who has interviewed numerous murderers. “There is no doubt about it.”
He said early childhood is most important to a person’s formative years, but brain development can continue into their mid-20s.
In August 2002, when Crimo III was a toddler, Pesina reportedly left him in a hot car for 27 minutes while shopping at Toys ‘R Us.
Defendant left Robert Crimo III unattended in a motor vehicle while the motor vehicle was parked for approximately 27 minutes in a Toys R-US (sic) parking lot, 1610 Deerfield Road, Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois, with the windows closed. the car was off and the temperature outside was about 79,” the warrant reads. He was then 2.
In August 2002, when Crimo III was a toddler, Pesina reportedly left him in a hot car for 27 minutes while shopping at Toys ‘R Us.
(Fox News digital)
That earned her a conviction for endangering the life or health of a child, a class A felony.
“If no one cared about him growing up, he didn’t have that empathy,” Kelly told Fox News Digital Friday. “Why does he have no remorse, no guilt or no empathy for other people? I’ve seen this with many serial killers, because they were abused.”
And in 2012, Pesina was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service for drink-driving after being arrested with a flat tire and a 0.21% BAC. She had a “strong smell of alcohol on breath and failure” [field sobriety tests]a police officer wrote in a report at the time.
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She completed her community service in “a very commendable manner with a good attitude,” according to a letter from her supervisor.
A photo illustration of accused July 4th gunman Robert Crimo III with his father, Bob Crimo (left) and mother Denise Pesina (right).
(FBI handout/Facebook)
The charge also includes numerous 911 calls to the Illinois family’s home on McDaniels Avenue, with the parents repeatedly blaming each other for verbal altercations. Many of the disputes ended with Robert Crimo Jr., Crimo III’s father, leaving for the night either voluntarily or at the request of the police, and he was arrested at least once.
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A shocking case arose before Crimo III was born, involving Pesina’s ex-boyfriend, Steven Brown.
In 1999, Pesina asked for protection from Brown, who she accused of sexually abusing her 4-year-old daughter, Crimo III’s half-sister. According to court documents, the girl’s father had previously died of carbon monoxide poisoning. She also had to file a lawsuit to establish paternity so that the child could have a portion of Brown’s estate.
The mother and daughter each went to counseling and Pesina spent time in the hospital “because of Steven Brown’s physical abuse.” Pesina also claimed that Brown harassed her and her daughter by making “unwanted phone calls and performances in their hometown.”
Denise Pesina’s allegations of harassment and abuse against her ex-boyfriend, Steven Brown, in 1999.
(Fox News digital)
Pesina had different problems with men than her husband while Crimo III was growing up.
A man named David Daniels is mentioned in several police reports at the family’s home, claiming to be Pesina’s “boyfriend”, which she disputed.
She also accused a neighbor, William Hollander, of unwelcome advances on her, and Crimo Jr. called the police one night to tell them that the neighbor had given his wife a bottle of wine.
Police also visited the family home twice in 2019 over alleged threats from Crimo III, although his parents refused to lodge a complaint and no crimes were charged.
If the police or the parents had intervened at the time, Kelly argued, Crimo III may not have been able to legally purchase the four firearms he later picked up, including the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle that he allegedly took during the massacre. have used.
A photo combination of alleged July 4th parade shooter Robert Crimo III (right) and his mother Denise Pesina.
(Facebook/FBI)
“The way it usually works is he would have been arrested, he would have to have a lawyer,” Kelly said. “The prosecutor is said to have said, ‘Get him into therapy and get us some reports on him. We want to make sure he isn’t a threat.’ … He would have been assessed for sanity, and at that point I don’t know if he could still have bought the gun.”
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The first incident, in April, happened after Crimo III reportedly threatened suicide. The second was for threats to kill his family. Later that year, with his father’s sponsorship, he applied for an Illinois Firearm Ownership ID.
“I’ve seen this a million times where alcoholic parents then felt guilty for drinking and carrying on and fighting and all while raising the child, and their guilt makes them enablers,” said Kelly, the criminal profiler. “And what all that means to him is that I don’t know everything because all the information isn’t available, but that could create a situation where the father would empower him by helping him buy the gun.”