Toddler found at Highland Park scene orphaned in shooting

The parents of a 2-year-old toddler who was found at the scene of the Highland Park shooting have both died, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

At a press conference, Jennifer Banek, the coroner for Lake County, read names of six of the seven victims who had died, including 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy of Highland Park.

Friends of the couple have since taken to social media to mourn the couple and express their grief. A GoFundMe page has also been created to raise money to support their orphaned son, Aiden McCarthy.

The organizer of the page said it was created on behalf of his family, and with their permission. Aiden McCarthy will be raised by his grandparents, and the organizer shared that he “is left in the unthinkable position, to grow up without his parents.”

The GoFundMe page had raised well over $1 million as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Aiden was rescued from the shooting after a woman and her companions saw him pinned under his father, who was unconscious, while she on her way to get breakfast, The Daily Beast reported.

The woman, Lauren Silva, told the outlet that while she took Aiden back to her car, her boyfriend and his son tried to help his father, who was bleeding. Silva later told The New York Times that she was told that first responders were unable to stop the father’s bleeding and had covered him with a blanket.

The tragic news comes after police said that the suspect in the shooting, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, planned the attack for “several weeks” before killing seven and wounding dozens more at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb.  

The other victims identified by The Lake County Coroner’s Office include Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park; Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park, and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico.

Police said they are in discussions with Crimo but declined to share additional information. Law enforcement is still working to determine a motive.