Originally labeled a death investigation, police said on Tuesday they are pursuing this as a homicide. The weapon, which had been missing, was found, wiped clean, inside the home. And police say charges will likely be filed shortly.
A video produced by an Autism awareness group takes us inside 14-year-old Alex Spourdalakis' final few weeks of life.
"He needs something simple, in the country, where he can run around, get the treatment that he needs so he can get better," said mother Dorothy Spourdalakis in the video.
A mother's desperate pleas for help apparently went unanswered.
Her son suffered from autism so severe, it caused him to violently lash out and frequently needed to be restrained, medicated and even hospitalized. "He was a big young man, he was a good size and very strong and he resisted any attempts to take him to the hospital and they needed numerous personnel to control him," said Loni. The autism aide group says Alex was days away from being taken away from his mother and institutionalized.
"Even in a psych facility, and chasing him around the room with syringes, that's not the answer," said Dorothy Spourdalakis.
His mother and godmother, who acted as caregivers, were nearby along with a three-page note describing the difficulty they had caring for him.
Police say Alex's mother and grandmother remain hospitalized but are alert now, and one of them has been said to have given detectives a statement about what unfolded.
On Monday night, as an investigator removes evidence from the apartment, police have yet to say how Alex's tragic tale ended and whether anyone will be held criminally responsible.
According to River Grove Police, it was about 3:00 p.m. on Sunday that they came to the second floor apartment to conduct a well-being check. Police said they were called to the scene after the boy's father and uncle failed to get in touch with him or his mother. Police found Alex Spourdalakis, 14, stabbed to death in bed.
Alex and his mother, Dorothy Spourdalakis, 50, lived in an apartment together over a plumbing business. River Grove police say his mother and another woman were incoherent and unresponsive by his side and under the influence of some kind of narcotic.
