Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions of graphic violence that some readers may find disturbing. We are publishing this information because it is central to understanding the events. Our goal is to report with accuracy and sensitivity, while providing readers with the context needed to make sense of what happened. We encourage readers to proceed with caution and care.

A Sycamore man told police that he lured his mother to the basement of their home on Monday and beat her to death with a hammer, then hours later killed his father, too, and attempted to hide the crime, authorities wrote in court records released Wednesday.

Kevin A. Schmidt, 35, confessed to deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office that he plotted his parents’ killings on Sunday night, believing his mother, Holly S. Schmidt, 59, and father, Gary A. Schmidt, 60, would “hold him hostage or kill him,” according to DeKalb County court records. His father had taken away some car keys and he told deputies he interpreted that “as an act of aggression,” records state.

Two days later, deputies found Holly and Gary dead inside their home, in the 1300 block of Oakland Drive in Sycamore, from apparent blunt force trauma. Soon after, with luggage and a backpack in his car, Schmidt was found by police near the Chicago Rockford International Airport.

He was charged Tuesday with four counts of first-degree murder in his parents’ killings, according to court records. If convicted in the deaths of both his parents, he could face a life sentence.

Neighbors and those who knew Holly and Gary were mourning Tuesday night as Schmidt’s arrest was announced.

Holly worked for 20 years in Sycamore School District 427 as a paraprofessional, most recently at North Grove Elementary School. Gary Schmidt worked in construction, a neighbor told reporters. Sycamore school board president Michael DeVito held a moment of silence during Tuesday night’s board meeting and offered condolences to the Schmidt family.

“The board wishes to acknowledge that there was a tragedy that has affected our community today,” DeVito said. “One of our staff members passed away unexpectedly. Our thoughts are with their loved ones at this time.”

North Grove principal Jake Countryman sent an email to school families late Tuesday notifying them of Holly’s death.

“She will be deeply missed by our students, staff, and community,” Countryman said in the email. “Our thoughts are with Mrs. Schmidt’s loved ones as they navigate this difficult loss. We extend our sincerest condolences to her family and friends.”

Countryman said Holly was an important presence in students’ daily lives and encouraged parents to comfort their children and talk to them about the death by using honest, age-appropriate language.

Interim superintendent Nick Reineck said Wednesday the district community was “heartbroken by the tragic loss of Holly.”

“She was a dedicated employee, but more importantly, she was an amazing person who poured her heart into those around her,” Reineck said. “Her positivity and love for life touched not only her students and colleagues, but the entire Sycamore community. She often reminded others that ‘every day is a gift,’ and we will hold tightly to those words as we grieve together and honor her memory.”

Judge detains man

In records filed by deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, authorities said Schmidt confessed to the killings, recounting in great and graphic detail the manner in which he planned and then executed the attacks.

Prosecutor Scott Schwertley with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office called the killings “brutal and heinous.” The state’s attorney’s office sought to keep Schmidt in jail pending trial. In his argument, Schwertley said the community would be in “extreme danger” if Schmidt were released since “pretty much anything could be a weapon in his hands.”

In his first court appearance on the charges on Wednesday, Schmidt appeared alert and responsive. Apparent scratches on his fingers and knuckles were visible on his hands.

Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery denied the man’s release, ruling that Schmidt’s release could endanger the public and citing the man’s criminal record. The judge said no court order would mitigate that threat.

At times as Schwertley read from police reports detailing how the Schmidts were killed, Kevin appeared to smile and shake his head.

“My attorney told me I was going to be able to speak, but I guess that’s not real, so whatever,” Schmidt said as he walked out of the virtual hearing from the county jail. Criswell said Kevin was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and trauma disorder, citing records that showed his client had spent time in behavioral health facilities.

His defense attorney, Public Defender Chip Criswell argued for his client’s release, citing court records including a guilty plea Schmidt entered on Sept. 10 to a 2024 misdemeanor domestic battery against his mother.

“I don’t mean to sound crass, judge,” Criswell said. “I think the threat that he posed was to his parents. And that threat obviously judge is not here.”

Schwertley said he expects to present Schmidt’s case to a DeKalb County grand jury Oct. 17. Schmidt’s expected to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Oct. 28.

Records allege man confessed to violent killings

Schmidt told investigators Tuesday that on Sunday night, he had gathered cleaning supplies, zip ties, and set up a table in the basement, records allege.

While his parents were away on Monday, he set up an area in the basement with plastic sheeting, he told investigators. When Holly Schmidt arrived home between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. Monday, Kevin led her to the basement under the pretense of moving a table, records state. He admitted to striking his mother multiple times on the head with a hammer, believing her dead after the attack.

Between one and three hours later, Schmidt’s father, Gary Schmidt, returned home. In an interview with deputies, Kevin admitted he’d planned to attack his father with a large flashlight, but couldn’t find it, so he used a smaller one instead, according to court records.

But Gary attempted to fight back, so Kevin grabbed a hammer and a dog bowl and struck his father multiple times in the head, records show. He also tried to choke his father, police wrote in court records. Kevin told deputies he believed his father was dead after the attack, though court filings note Gary later showed signs of movement so Kevin struck him again.

Kevin Schmidt detailed for authorities how he planned to clean up the violent crime scene, records show.

He told deputies he planned to wait until dark, dig out the floor of the back yard shed, and bury his parents. But he changed his mind, deputies wrote in court records.

Instead, Kevin burned the clothes he wore during the attacks in the fireplace. He burned a hammer used in the killings and then threw the hammer head into the Kishwaukee River nearby, according to court records. He covered his parents with bedding, a description deputies said matched what they found in the home on Tuesday.

He later told deputies where the hammer was, records show.

By Tuesday morning, members of the family told the sheriff’s office they hadn’t heard from Gary or Holly in two days. One of the relatives told police a phone location app showed Gary and Holly were still in their home. They told police Kevin also lived in the home.

Deputies went by about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday to check on the couple, according to the court filing. They found Gary and Holly’s vehicles both in the driveway. They knocked on the door multiple times. No one answered. Deputies walked around the home and saw sheets hung on the rear kitchen window. Hearing no response, deputies forced their way into the home. They said they smelled a strong odor of what smelled like cleaning supplies inside, court records state.

They found the Schmidts dead, Holly in the basement and Gary in the kitchen.

A 2012 Ford Escape that belonged to Kevin but was registered to his mother was missing from the driveway, according to court records. At about 11 a.m. Tuesday, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office stopped Schmidt while driving near the airport.

After an hourslong multi-agency search of the Schmidt home that continued Wednesday, authorities said they found multiple items that match Kevin’s account of the killings, including items they believe were used as weapons against Gary Schmidt, records state. They also noted Kevin had what deputies called “defensive wounds” on his right hand and feet, according to court filings.

When reached on Wednesday, DeKalb County Coroner Linda Besler said autopsies for Gary and Holly were completed, but an official cause of death remains pending further forensic testing. She said she wasn’t immediately able to provide a time of death.