Apr 24, 2009 9:43 pm US/Central
Fundraiser Planned For Hoffman Estates Victims
Surviving Hoffman Estates Stabbing Victim Shelly Engelhardt Leaves Hospital
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (CBS) ―
A Hoffman Estates woman is out of the hospital, after being stabbed and injured in an attack in her home that killed her daughter, mother and husband.
Shelly Engelhardt was released from St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates on Friday.
She was wounded in a stabbing that killed her husband, Allen Engelhardt, 57; her daughter, Laura Engelhardt, 18; and her mother, Marlene Gacek, 73.
D'Andre Howard, 20, of Hoffman Estates, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of unlawful restraint in the case. Howard had been the boyfriend of Laura's sister, Amanda Engelhardt, and he allegedly committed the stabbings following a quarrel with Amanda.
Howard ordered Amanda Engelhardt to leave their Hoffman Estates apartment with the couple's 8-month-old daughter after a quarrel about infidelity, so she fled to the home where her parents, sister and other relatives live.
Early on April 17, Howard showed up at the nearby house, officials allege.
Then, over several hours, he allegedly tied up various members of her family and stabbed her father and maternal grandmother to death, officials said. Amanda's 18-year-old sister managed to fight back and stab him in the arm, but she, too, was eventually killed, officials said.
Howard was ordered held without bond by Rolling Meadows Judge Samuel Betar III on Saturday.
Laura Engelhardt was a senior at Conant High School, where those who loved her are planning to say goodbye and spread a message about domestic violence.
"I think how much she's missed by everyone here, and it's the kids' way of showing respect," said Conant Principal Tim Cannon.
Each day, students add to the memorial with their words, stuffed toys and even a senior t-shirt Laura would have received had she survived. Cannon says the mementos mark just one stage in the grieving process.
"It's been very difficult. It goes in waves," he said. "And kids find doing things like this is a way they can cope with it."
She was a beloved softball player and performer her classmates say they won't forget.
On Saturday, the school will hold the fundraising sale beginning at 1 p.m. The school will sell purple ribbons to raise awareness about domestic violence, and rubber bracelets with a message against dating violence and the date Laura and her family were killed printed on them.
Conant is located at located at 700 E. Cougar Trail in Hoffman Estates, off Plum Grove Road and south of Higgins Road.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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