Chicago Area Local News

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (CBS) ― Friends and classmates of one of the victims of a brutal Hoffman Estates stabbing are mourning Monday, while the man charged with the crimes made another appearance in court.

D'Andre Howard, 20, is being held without bond, and is due for a preliminary hearing at the Rolling Meadows courthouse. 

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports Howard was arrested on an oustanding warrant and released just hours before he is alleged to have fatally stabbed three members of his girlfriend's family.

Howard is charged with stabbing his girlfriend's father, sister and grandmother to death in the family's home in Hoffman Estates. He is a state ward who allegedly has a history of mental health problems and a criminal past.

Howard suffered injuries while allegedly committing the crime, but was apparently well enough to make the trip from the Cook County Jail to the Rolling Meadows Courthouse.

At Howard's court appearance, prosecutors asked the judge to take more evidence from him, and the judge ordered him to stay away from his girlfriend and her family.

Howard didn't say a word in court but did look around briefly. He was wearing a brown jump suit and his hands were cuffed behind his back. On his right arm, there was a bandage covering a stab wound that was left there by Laura Engelhardt, who was killed after trying to defend her family.

Jeff Engelhardt lost his father, younger sister and his grandmother in the Friday attack. But he wasn't prepared to call for the death penalty of the 20-year-old man who prosecutors say killed his loved ones.

"I'll leave that to God and the judicial system," Jeff said. "I'm just sad my family is gone, I'm gonna miss them."

Outside of court, Howard's defense attorney would only say that his client was confused.

"He's a little confused as to what's going on. I'm not really at liberty to talk about matters that we talked about, but there is a plentitude of mental health issues that are going to be explored in the court," said defense attorney James Mullinex. "We'll find out about those issues soon enough."

Meanwhile, friends and classmates of Laura Engelhardt, 18, brought flowers Monday for a memorial at Conant High School. Her best friend said she had to do something to ease her own pain.

"I was lucky to know her for a really long time; since I was 5," said Katie McCoy. "We grew up together; I probably talked to this girl pretty much every day."

"Today we want to give the students the opportunity to pay their respects, and honor her for just being a wonderful person and her heroic last efforts," said Jenna Verde.

A classmate who works at Alexian Brothers Medical Center says he served food to the wounded suspect on Saturday.

"Both arms were stitched up and sewn up, and there was a bunch of cops around," said Nat Block. "He tried to reopen his wounds to make him bleed himself to death."

Block said at the time, he did not know the man he was serving was accused in the crime.

The students at Conant High School plan to move their flower memorial to Engelhardt outdoors so the community can contribute if they wish.

Counselors are in every class of Laura's on Monday to help her friends and classmates.

"I know Laura had hundreds and hundreds of friends. It gives me a little bit of joy that she was able to mean that much to that many people," Jeff Engelhardt said.

Jeff says his grandmother was always there for him, and his father did his best to lead by example and show him how to live.

"My dad, especially, he lived to make other people's lives as good as possible," Jeff said. "If I could be half as giving as my dad was, that's a successful life, I'd say."

Jeff says his mother, Shelly Engelhardt, is still hospitalized in the intensive care unit, but is expected to make a full recovery.

"They've always been the most giving people that I've ever met in my life," Jeff said of his murdered family members. "They were everything to me."

Prosecutors: Murder Spree Started With Lovers' Quarrel
Prosecutors say it all started when Howard got into an argument with his girlfriend of three years, Amanda Engelhardt, over infidelity. Howard ordered her to leave their Hoffman Estates apartment with the couple's 8-month-old daughter, authorities said Saturday.

At 12:13 a.m. Friday morning, police were called to Howard's apartment because of a report of loud music. That's where they found the suspect. He was wanted on an outstanding warrant out of Oak Park for failure to appear in traffic court. Howard was booked and brought to the police station. Police say he gave no indication he was violent while in custody.

Howard posted bond at 1:20 a.m. and then went to the Engelhardt house 10 minutes later where he began fighting with Amanda.

Prosecutors say, Howard confronted his girlfriend in her parents' house. When her mother and sister, 18-year-old Laura Engelhardt, came to her aid, prosecutors say Howard grabbed a weapon.

Over several hours, he allegedly tied up various members of her family and stuffed a sock in Laura's mouth. After a while, he put the knife down and untied Laura.

While he was starting to untie her sister and mom, the Conant senior tried to defend her family, and managed to stab Howard in the arm.

Prosecutors say Howard grabbed the knife and stabbed Laura, her mother Shelly, grandmother and father. Prosecutors said Howard stabbed the father in the shoulder, and slit his throat.

Laura, her father, Alan Engelhardt, 57, and her grandmother, Marlene Gacek, 73, all later died. Amanda's mother, Shelly, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Amanda's 8-month-old daughter was not harmed.

After the attack, Howard's girlfriend begged him to allow her to call 911. He refused for 45 minutes. During that time, her father and grandmother died. Her mother and sister were alive when paramedics arrived, but Laura later died.

He tried to clean up the blood, then allowed Amanda Engelhardt to call police with a cell phone around 6:45 a.m. He was at the house when police arrived.

"I can't even say how hard it is for me, but for her to have to have been there, I can't even begin to think," said Amanda's brother Jeff Engelhardt.

A Saturday autopsy determined Alan and Laura Engelhardt both died from multiple stab and incise wounds and Marlene Gacek died from a stab wound to the chest, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Howard is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of unlawful restraint.

Laura was able to give details before she passed away. Those details were recounted at Howard's bond hearing, where Cook County Judge Samuel Betar III denied bail.

Prosecutors said Howard previously received two years' probation after being convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Juvenile Court in 2004.
In 2006, he was sentenced to 15 days in the county jail and six additional months of probation for violating his probation stemming from the 2004 incident.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Dana Kozlov and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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