Trial of accused Highland Park shooter: Information, City message, local resources, our coverage scope

More than 30 months after the tragedy, the trial for the Highland Park shooting’s alleged culprit is underway.

The accused shooter faces a variety of charges, including murder and attempted murder, for his alleged actions on July 4, 2022, during a parade in downtown Highland Park.

On that day, the shooter allegedly shot more than 50 individuals, including seven fatally: Katie Goldstein, Irina McCarthy, Kevin Michael McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Lovi Sundheim, Nicolás Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo.

Jury selection for the trial began Monday, Feb. 24. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, led by Eric Rinehart, is prosecuting the case in the 19th Circuit Court of Illinois, and the hearings are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis at the county courthouse, 18 N. County St., Waukegan.

The trial, however, will not be broadcast or streamed for remote viewing.

City resources

The City of Highland Park released a message to the community on Friday, Feb. 21, providing information on the trial, what residents can expect and how they can access local support services.

The message from city officials says that each resident will engage with the trial in their own way and “may we all meet each other with grace, compassion and empathy.”

“We remain committed to supporting the victims and ensuring that their voices are heard throughout this process,” Mayor Nancy Rotering said in the statement. “As we await the trial’s outcome, we reaffirm our dedication to building a safer, more compassionate community, where such a tragedy is never repeated.”

The city compiled a list of available resources, which includes in-person, digital and telephonic services.

The city’s message also includes access to support services for children and parents.

Local support is regularly available at Resilienthpil.org, and for more information on the trial and the city’s response, residents can contact Highland Park’s city manager’s office at cityhp@cityhpil.com.

Trial expectations

In its message, the City of Highland Park says that 4-5 weeks is a “good estimate” for the length of a trial of this capacity. The proceedings, though, would likely not end there, as a sentencing hearing would follow a guilty verdict.

A jury selection timeline is difficult to predict, and the 19th Circuit Court publishes a list of steps related to a jury trial.

Following jury selection, attorneys give opening statements to begin the proceedings.

How The Record will report on the trial

A note from Editor in Chief Joe Coughlin:

The Record North Shore is a five-year-old nonprofit community newsroom that added Highland Park to its coverage on the day of the shooting in 2022.

That decision was made with Highland Park residents in mind. The community was lacking a dedicated, thoughtful and reliable local-news source, and it needed one — not only to provide trustworthy updates in numerous news categories in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, but also every day thereafter to offer responsible reporting and storytelling as residents and the community took steps forward.

The trial of the Highland Park shooter is a significant part of that journey forward, and our mission of thoughtful news coverage for the people of Highland Park is more critical during major milestones, such as this. With that in mind:

• We will not use the name of the alleged shooter nor will we publish photos of the individual. This has been our policy for the last three years, and we have only published the individual’s name when we felt not doing so was inappropriate.

• We will not provide play-by-play coverage of the trial but will report news about significant moments in the trial, such as the beginning, the verdict, and any unpredictable activity that impacts our readers.

Covering the trial another way would likely harm and retraumatize a substantial number of Highland Park community members, whom we center in our reporting. Doing so, as Highland Park’s community newsroom, would be irresponsible and inequitable.

We exist in a robust news ecosystem in Chicago; also, this trial is of national significance. If you are a reader who is interested in wire-to-wire, full coverage of the trial, including photography and video, you have other options available to you. You will not find those things here.

If you have questions or concerns about our coverage, please don’t hesitate to reach out: joe@therecordns.org.

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