The Martin County Sheriff’s office says authorities will seek the death penalty or life in prison for a 19-year-old college student who detectives say was caught biting the face of a man after stabbing him and his wife outside their outside their Florida home.
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Authorities are still awaiting lab test results.
His parents were so anxious about his behavior that evening, they called police and some of his friends to try to find him.
Later in the evening, deputies responded to a call about a stabbing and found Harrouff in the driveway of a residence biting the face of a man he allegedly stabbed. Harrouff is now hospitalized in stable but critical condition due to injuries he suffered during the attack and while a neighbor and deputies were trying to subdue him.
Austin Harrouff, 19, will be arrested and charged in the deaths of a Martin County couple upon his release from St. Mary’s Medical Center, Martin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trisha Kukuvka announced Friday. Harrouff also faces an attempted first-degree murder charge for repeatedly stabbing a neighbor who tried to help the couple. He also be charged with burglary of a dwelling while armed and resisting an officer. Neighbors said John Stevens III, 59; and his wife Michelle Mishcon, 53, enjoyed sitting in the evenings with their garage door open.
Wade and Mina Harrouff issued a statement Friday through a lawyer expressing what they said was “their deepest sympathy for the pain and suffering caused by Austin”. She told the dispatcher he believed he was carrying a pocket knife, but, “I think that is all he has on him”.
Martin County Sheriff’s officials say Harrouff will be charged with multiple counts, including first degree murder for the deaths of both Mishcon and Stevens, once he is released. She said certain illegal drugs on the market can produce behavior like that of the suspect’s.
His mother, still unaware of the attack, told Jupiter Police Offficer Luis Rocha that her son had been acting strangely for about a week, claiming he had superpowers and that he was “here to protect people”.
Sheriff’s officials said he’s still in the hospital where he’s conscious but heavily sedated.
Investigators “know the who, the what, the when, the where and the how” of the attack, but the why remains a mystery, according to Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
The mother said her son abruptly left the Duffy’s restaurant they were having dinner at after having an argument with his father.
“I’m feeling every emotion that there is out there…anger is at the top of the list at the moment”, said his daughter Ivy.
Fisher, 47, who was attacked while trying to help the couple Monday night, was released from the hospital on Thursday. There are no words we can offer to give any real comfort for this tragic loss.
They said they love their son “and know he is not the person some are making him out to be”.
The sheriff said Harrouff was growling like an animal and was abnormally strong.
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Investigators say it took several deputies and a police dog to subdue Harrouff. We will allow the full legal process to find the full facts and the truth here.
