The order from Judge Jill Cerone-Marisie came during a hearing Monday during which prosecutors said Howard's DNA would be compared with blood from palm and fingerprints found on a kitchen knife and bloody footprints around the house.
Prosecutors say 20-year-old D'Andre Howard used a butcher knife to kill his girlfriend's sister, father, and grandmother.
ABC7 has learned on Monday that Howard was bonded out about an hour before he allegedly committed the murders
The mother of Howard's girlfriend was also stabbed and she remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Crisis counselors remained on hand at Conant High School for classmates of Laura Engelhardt.
"We've been friends all through high school so it's hard meeting her and losing her. Jenna Verity, victim's Friend
Classmates paid silent tribute to 18-year-old Laura Engelhardt. Her classmates are struggling with her death, as are stunned relatives and friends.
A judge denied the 20-year-old bond while ordering him to provide D.N.A. samples, including blood, fingerprint, and footprint impressions. Investigators say Howard attacked members of the Engelhardt family with a knife after an argument with the girlfriend and mother of his child, Amanda.
Howard's attorney says his client, a former ward of the state, suffers from mental illness.
"At this point, I think that the paramount issue is to get to the bottom of his mental issues, to discover what they are and to not only identify the source of the problem but to try to rectify those," said James Mullinex, Howard's attorney.
While his attorney tries to use that defense to give some sort of response or answer as to why his client allegedly committed these crimes, court records are also showing Howard was violent toward a previous girlfriend. She says Howard attacked her and made threatening phone calls. There are now two expired orders protection against him, one in 2006 and one in 2007.
