>> Nearly 3 years after one of the deadliest mass shootings in Illinois history.

Victims from the Highland Park parade shooting hopes to finally get the opportunity to confront the man responsible.

Instead, the self-confessed killer was a no show to his own sentencing hearing last month.

24 year-old Robert Crimo.

The 3rd pleaded guilty to killing 7 people and wounding 48 others at the 4th of July parade in 2022, his sentencing hearing began in the Lake County courthouse this at Masterson has been following this story.

He joins us now with more.

Matt, what is the latest at Lee County courthouse?

So the sensing he's still been going on, it's been going on all day.

It's been several hours of really gut-wrenching testimony.

But despite all the evidence and testimony, the sentence is essentially set already.

>> Robert Crimo, the 3rd will be spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole ever since he entered that guilty plea last month, the 69 counts, including 21 counts of first-degree murder.

It was all but set that he would be spending the rest of his life in prison and or Illinois state law.

When you are convicted of killing more than 2 people, that is the automatic sentence life life in prison without the possibility of parole.

What did we hear from the victims in court today said it really was gut wrenching.

Testimony victims spoke for hours and hours.

They called Crimo Terrace.

They called him a coward.

The said shooting was nothing more than a violent tantrum that he took out on people and they expressed a desire that he never know any sort of peace the rest of his life.

The family of one of the victims who was killed, Jacqueline, some time.

They said they hope Crema lives a very long life and that he is uncomfortable for the rest of it while he's in prison every single day and knowing that he'll never be free again.

Parents described shielding their children running for their lives during this parade.

We heard from the doctor who treated 8 year-old Cooper Roberts, who was the youngest of the shooting victims.

He survived but was left paralyzed from the shooting victims who are going to describe their physical pain and others who were wounded.

But we're in the president be described emotional pain that they still go through through nightmares, PTSD just a fear of going to a lot large events are going outside in public ever since the shooting took place.

Difficult for all of them to recount.

I'm sure.

But why wasn't crimo in attendance?

He didn't give any specific reason.

But ultimately he didn't have to be there.

He skipped out on some pretrial hearings.

He skipped out on portions of jury selection before he ultimately pleaded guilty and he was reminded repeatedly by the judge that he didn't have to be there and that the case would move forward in his presence or without it.

So he does not have to be there for him to be sentenced to life in prison and has no bearing on that whatsoever.

So he is free to spend the day in his jail cell while this is all settled and it ultimately will not affect anything.

>> What else we learn about how he planned the shooting?

Yeah.

So for the first time we heard portions of Crimo's confession his his interview with police from the day he was arrested later on July 4th 2022.

>> About how you plan.

He said he plans for years.

Brian Bodden, the Highland Park police detective who was running this interview said that Crimo had mapped out the downtown area gone there multiple times.

He was recording police response times to emergencies in the area.

He really thought this all out and he apparently had planned to do this earlier at a parade in 2020 to make believe that parade was, of course, canceled due to COVID but Crimo never denied he was responsible.

He his demeanor was relaxed.

detective said during this year's joking and laughing with investigators in this and he never expressed any sort of remorse for for shooting all these people.

of course, that information is coming out because it was not used at the trial.

That never happened because deal t Matt Masterson, thank you so much.