A judge on Wednesday set a date for a hearing to determine if a Sycamore man charged with murder in the 2025 killings of his parents will be declared fit to stand trial.

After refusing for months to come to court, Kevin A. Schmidt, 35, appeared for his hearing Wednesday morning in front of Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery after refusing to come to court since Dec. 10, 2025. He is accused of killing Gary A. Schmidt, 60, and Holly S. Schmidt, 59, in 2025.

His defense attorney, Public Defender Chip Criswell, told the judge that Schmidt met with a health professional “for a few hours” on March 31. That expert is expected to have a report ready regarding Schmidt’s fitness ahead of an April 29 hearing at 9:30 a.m.

The Schmidts were found dead in their home in unincorporated Sycamore from apparent blunt force trauma wounds on Sept. 30, 2025. Police believe the Schmidts were killed sometime in the evening of Sept. 29.

Kevin Schmidt, whom Criswell previously said has a history of mental illness, faces a life sentence if convicted on four charges of first-degree murder.

He’s been held in custody without release at the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore since his arrest Sept. 30. Authorities said he fled the home after the attack, allegedly driving to Rockford, where police found him near the Chicago Rockford International Airport with packed luggage in the car.

Deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office alleged that Schmidt confessed to the killings, according to court records. Police alleged Schmidt recounted in great detail how he began plotting his parents’ violent killings the night of Sept. 28, fearing they would “hold him hostage or kill him,” according to DeKalb County court records.

The Schmidts were well known and liked in the community by loved ones, neighbors and colleagues, those who knew them said. Holly Schmidt was a longtime educator in Sycamore School District 427, and Gary Schmidt was a master carpenter.

Kevin hasn’t yet been arraigned on his charges.

An arraignment is when a person accused of a crime enters an initial plea – guilty or not guilty – which informs what direction proceedings continue in court. It’s typical for arraignments to occur shortly after an arrest, since the hearings include a judge advising a person on their official constitutional rights and what their charges are.

Criswell previously told Shaw Local that was because he’d raised a bona fide doubt as to his client’s mental fitness on Dec. 10, 2025, the first time Schmidt refused to come to court. He refused to come to court three more times, on Dec. 18, Jan. 12 and March 2. Montgomery ordered a fitness evaluation on March 11, court records show.

Schmidt appeared in court virtually Wednesday from the jail.