MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. – A 19-year-old man accused of killing a couple in Martin County in August and attacking their neighbor has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Martin County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Laurie Weber said Austin Harrouff was escorted from St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach on Monday to the Martin County Jail.
Harrouff, who was a student at Florida State University at the time of the attack, is being held without bond.
Authorities said Harrouff left a family dinner at Duffy's restaurant in Jupiter on Aug. 14 when he walked to the neighborhood of Michelle Mischon Stevens and John Stevens and attacked them in their garage.
Detectives said Jeffrey Fisher, 47, was attacked while trying to help the couple and was released from the hospital days after the attack.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said deputies found Harrouff on top of Stevens, biting and removing pieces of the victim's face with his teeth.
He said the first deputy who arrived tried to stop Harrouff with a Taser, but that didn't stop him. More deputies and a K-9 unit were called and eventually overpowered him.
Snyder said blood tests have been sent to the FBI to determine whether Harrouff was on flakka or bath salts at the time of the attack. Initial blood tests were negative for street drugs, including marijuana and cocaine.
"One day he has no criminal past and now he wakes up in the hospital and finds himself charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, so life as Austin Harrouff knew it is over," Snyder said.