Suspect was arrested hours before triple slaying

[April 21, 2009]  ROLLING MEADOWS (AP) -- The man accused of fatally stabbing three members of a suburban Chicago family last week had been in police custody just hours before the killings.

Authorities say 20-year-old D'Andre Howard was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant early Friday and released after posting bond. Police say he then went to a Hoffman Estates house and stabbed four members of his girlfriend's family -- three fatally.

Hoffman Estates police say Howard gave no indication of being violent during the short time he was in custody.

Also on Monday, a judge granted prosecutors' request to obtain DNA samples from Howard. Prosecutors say his DNA would be compared with blood found on a kitchen knife and bloody footprints around the house.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (AP) -- A judge in Illinois has given prosecutors permission to obtain DNA samples from a man accused of killing three of his girlfriend's relatives in a Chicago suburb.

Judge Jill Cerone-Marisie ordered the procedure at a hearing Monday.

Prosecutors said DNA from suspect D'Andre Howard's would be compared with blood from palm and fingerprints found on a kitchen knife and bloody footprints around the house where the stabbings took place.

The 20-year-old man is accused of tying up his girlfriend and members of her family early Friday, then stabbing her sister, father and grandmother.

The girlfriend was allowed to call police a few hours later.

Prosecutors say they haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty.

[Associated Press]

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