Matthew McCoy, who lives a few houses from the townhome where the stabbing occurred, said he saw police with weapons drawn surround the house around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.



A short time later, he said, he saw the 14-year-old girl being led out of the home by police, without handcuffs, and placed into the front seat of a police car. Around 3 p.m., McCoy, 34, said he saw officials taking an orange body bag out of the home on a stretcher.



Neighbors said the two girls had lived at the home for about a year.



Despite a couple of break-ins about seven years ago, McCoy said the cul-de-sac, about two blocks from Mundelein High School, is generally quiet. He has lived in the home for 12 years.



Another neighbor, Verona Da Costa, said she was surprised when she was awakened about 10 a.m. Tuesday by two detectives knocking on her door.



Da Costa, 68, who has lived on the street since 1997, said police asked her if she had heard any loud noises that morning.



"I didn't even know something was going on," she said. "If they hadn't knocked on the door, I wouldn't even (have) come outside until the mail came."



She said both the street and the townhome complex were blocked off late into the afternoon.



McCoy said police asked him for identification when he came back from a trip to the store.