July 4 parade funerals conclude with tribute to slain dad

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — A funeral service was held Monday afternoon for the last of seven people killed by a gunman at an Independence Day parade, as family and friends gathered in suburban Chicago to remember Kevin McCarthy.

Attendees at McCarthy’s funeral filled up nearby parking lots before heading inside the funeral home in Skokie. Unlike the services last week for McCarthy’s wife, Irina, the services were not livestreamed.

In an obituary, the 37-year-old was described as a father, husband, brother, uncle and son who “brought the fun to every situation.”

The couple were killed at the parade in nearby Highland Park. They left behind a 2-year-old son, Aiden, whose story prompted thousands of people to donate money for the orphaned boy. In all, an online fundraiser has raised more than $3.2 million for the boy.

“Kevin’s irrepressible zest for life and his family and friends will remain with us always,” his family wrote in the obituary. “We love you.”

Services for the five other victims have been held since the shooting. They have been identified as: 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim, 88-year-old Stephen Straus and 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza and 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo.

Prosecutors have charged 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III with seven counts of murder and said they expect to present attempted murder charges representing the people wounded in the attack.

Also on Monday, the family of Cooper Roberts, the 8-year-old boy who was paralyzed with a spinal cord injury in the shooting, said in a statement that the boy remains in critical condition but is making some “hopeful progress.”

According to the statement, the boy is no longer on a ventilator, but is breathing on his own. And the boy took his first brief ride in a wheelchair over the weekend.

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