Will Greenlee, Elliott Jones and Laurie K. Blandford

USA TODAY Network - Florida

MARTIN COUNTY — As neighbors describe it, they live in a beautiful community, with a mix of families with children and retirees.

But the double slaying that rocked the 19000 block of Southeast Kokomo Lane late Monday had neighbors on edge Tuesday, saying things like “that just doesn’t happen here.” The community is between Interstate 95 and Tequesta, just north of Jupiter.

“People take pride in their homes,” said Michele Antoniewicz, who has lived on the street for 11 years. “We’ve never had an issue at all over here.”

Austin Kelly Harrouff, 19, whose father, Dr. Wade Harrouff, lives in the neighborhood, is accused of killing John Joseph Stevens III, 59, and Michelle Karen Mishcon, 53, in the garage of their home, in what Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder called a heinous, vicious stabbing attack about 9:20 p.m.

Amy Lourie, who has lived in the neighborhood since 2003, described the husband and wife as great neighbors who were always having fun and were kind to everybody. They would ride around in their golf cart with their dog. They would open their garage door and had a television and chairs outside.

“If there was something going on, there would be John and Michelle waving from their garage, watching the game or having fun,” Lourie said. “They hang out in their garage and watch the dogs and talk to the neighbors.”

Their habit of hanging out in their garage might have been the beacon that led to their slaying.

The younger Harrouff didn’t know the couple, Snyder said, and evidence shows Stevens and Mishcon were randomly attacked while sitting in their open garage.

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Harrouff, a Florida State University student studying exercise science who belongs to the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity on campus in Tallahassee, killed the couple in a random and unprovoked attack on Monday, tackling Stevens in his driveway and biting off pieces of his face, Snyder said. Deputies found Mishcon dead in the garage.

In his 43 years of law enforcement, Snyder said, he had never seen something so vicious.

“I’ve seen a lot of crime scenes,” Snyder said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything with this much violence.”

Harrouff hasn’t been charged with a crime. He’s been sedated at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, and his condition deteriorated Tuesday to life-threatening, possibly because he ingested something causing intestinal problems, Snyder said.

Flakka, which is considered a cousin to the drug combination found in bath salts, can cause psychotic breakdowns, hallucinations and incidents of violence without warning.

Harrouff hasn’t had any prior contact with FSU police, and Snyder said Harrouff doesn’t have a criminal record in the state.

Officials don’t know Harrouff’s motive for the attack, Snyder said, and maybe they never will.

“Although we know a lot about what happened last night,” said Snyder on Tuesday, “there are some things we do not yet know, and there are some things that we will not be able to release just yet.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

On Monday night, Harrouff went to dinner with his parents, Wade and Mina, at Duffy’s Sports Grill restaurant in the 6700 block of West Indiantown Road in Jupiter, Snyder said. He was home from Tallahassee visiting them before classes start in a couple of weeks.

He was agitated after he got upset about something, Snyder said, and he left before dinner ended. Concerned for his well-being, his parents called Jupiter police, but officers couldn’t find him either.

Harrouff walked in the direction of his father’s house on Southeast Merritt Way in Jupiter about 15 minutes from the restaurant, Snyder said, but it’s unknown whether Harrouff intended to go there.

Before he got to his father’s street, Harrouff turned down Kokomo Lane.

Deputies received a 911 call from a neighbor across the street from the couple’s home who said he had been stabbed. The neighbor later was identified as Jeffrey Fisher.

“He had gotten injured attempting to intervene in the assault that he saw taking place,” said Snyder, who called Fisher a hero.

A Sheriff’s deputy arrived and found Harrouff on top of Stevens, who was lying on the driveway leading to the garage. Mishcon was in the garage.

“(The deputy) realized that the offender was actually biting the victim in the face and causing what turned out to be some substantial trauma to his face from bite marks,” Snyder said.

The deputy used a Taser on Harrouff, but it didn’t work. The deputy tried to pull Harrouff off, “but he was exhibiting abnormal levels of strength,” Snyder said. Harrouff wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Snyder described him as fairly muscular.

Two more deputies arrived within a few minutes and tried to help the deputy already on scene.

“Nothing was working,” Snyder said. “They were using all the force that they were able to muster physically.”

Tequesta and Jupiter police officers helped Martin County Sheriff’s officials, Snyder said, and a Tequesta police K-9 was used on Harrouff to get him off Stevens. Officials eventually were able to remove Harrouff, who sustained a bite from the police K-9.

Investigators were reviewing surveillance video Tuesday at Duffy’s, but a spokesperson for the restaurant declined to comment. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said the restaurant was working with Sheriff’s officials.

STUDENT LIFE

Harrouff attended Suncoast Community High School, a magnet school in Riviera Beach, according to his personal statement posted on the National Collegiate Scouting Association’s website. He played football there and was captain of the wrestling team.

Joey Bashwiner, 19, said he attends FSU and also went to middle school with Harrouff.

“He seemed like a pretty normal kid,” Bashwiner said. “Nothing wrong — just quiet.”

Bashwiner, who said he isn’t in the same fraternity as Harrouff, said he would see Harrouff in the gym at FSU and last saw him in early June.

“When I saw it was a kid I went to middle school with — he was in my class — shocking,” Bashwiner said. “You would never expect it.”

Staff writers Andrew Atterbury and Elliott Jones, and Karl Etters of the Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this report.