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Chicago Tribune
July 13, 2014
The man who murdered three members of a Hoffman Estates family and seriously wounded another in a 2009 knife attack was sentenced today to three life sentences without parole plus an additional 60 years.
D’Andre Howard, 26, showed no emotion as Cook County Judge Ellen Mandeltort delivered the sentence in a crowded Rolling Meadows courtroom.
Howard, who was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in June, faced a mandatory life sentence in the stabbing deaths of Laura Engelhardt, 18; her father Alan Engelhardt, 57; and her grandmother Marlene Gacek, 73; and the attack on Laura’s mother, Shelly Engelhardt, who survived with serious injuries.
“We’re just glad it’s over,” Shelly Englehardt said after the hearing.
In court, Shelly Engelhardt said her family will continue to be strong.
“I stand here now to let you know that good has triumphed over evil once more,” she said. “The wounds and pain you have inflicted on us have not weakened our family and will not define our future.”
Assistant public defender Deana Binstock asked for leniency for Howard, saying he suffered from mental illness and “never had a chance in life.”
Assistant state’s attorney Maria McCarthy asked for the maximum sentence, saying Howard planned the murders and made family members “watch their loved ones dead and dying” in the home.
Mandeltort said the Engelhardt family welcomed Howard into its home and tried to give him support and a chance in life.
“His response was to murder three members of that family,” she said in handing down the sentence.
Asked if he wanted to say anything, Howard told Mandeltort, “Nope.”
His mother, Constance Taylor, handed reporters a written note after the hearing. It said, in part, “I would like to apologize to the (Englehardt) family for the pain that my son has caused. The family will remain in my prayers. We all have suffered through this trying time.”
Howard was taken from Taylor when he was 6 and became a ward of the state for the rest of his childhood. He met Amanda Engelhardt at a party in 2006 and they became involved, according to Amanda’s testimony during the June trial. Amanda Engelhardt did not testify at the sentencing.
Jeff Engelhardt, brother of Laura and Amanda, was at college when the murders occurred and now works as a reporter for the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake.
In a victim impact statement, Jeff Engelhardt said he wanted Howard to understand what he did to the family.
“I don’t want to hate you. I want you to try hard every day to think about the people you killed and who they were,” he said.
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