FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. » John Stevens IV says he doesn’t need to know exactly what led a teen to allegedly kill his father and stepmother.

Or why the teen allegedly gnawed on his dead father’s face.

What Stevens does want is for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Austin Harrouff, the 19-year-old Florida State University student accused of slaying John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon Stevens, 53.

“It is not super important to me what his mindset was,” Stevens said of Harrouff today. “I just want to see the prosecutor ask for the death penalty. I want him to go through that process and to pay for what he did.”

Ivy Stevens, John Stevens’ daughter, echoed her brother’s sentiments about what she wanted to happen next. “I hope he makes a full recovery so he can be put through the justice system,” she said.

Harrouff, who was visiting family and friends on summer break, stormed out of a family dinner at Duffy’s Sports Grill in Jupiter on Monday evening, walked about three miles and then killed John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon Stevens as they sat in the garage of their Tequesta home, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said.

The couple suffered stab wounds and blunt-force trauma during the attack, officials said. A motive hasn’t been established, and it doesn’t appear Harrouff knew the couple, Snyder said.

A neighbor, Jeff Fisher, 47, was stabbed several times when he tried to intervene before deputies arrived. Fisher has since been released from the hospital and is home with family, the Sheriff’s Office said.

John Stevens IV, 28, said today he’s grateful Fisher confronted the attacker.

“Jeff from across the street is a hero,” he said. “Without Jeff he could have easily gone from that house to the next one.”

It took several deputies and a canine to subdue Harrouff, who was grunting, making animal-like noises and chewing John Stevens’ face. A stun gun seemed to have no effect, and it appeared Harrouff had “abnormal strength,” Snyder said.

On Thursday, Harrouff was in stable condition at the hospital, heavily sedated and using a breathing tube, officials said. Detectives have not been able to question him.

He tested negative for common street drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting further testing that would detect the presence of flakka or bath salts. The blood tests were sent to the FBI for in-depth testing, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is working with prosecutors on the charges against Harrouff, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said today.

On the night of the slayings, Harrouff’s mother called police and reported her son missing. Mina Harrouff told officers her son suddenly started acting strangely about a week ago and was claiming to be immortal and have superpowers.

Her son had no history of mental illness or heavy drug use, Mina Harrouff told police.

To his college fraternity brothers and former teammates on the high school football team, Harrouff was a “gentle giant,” as one friend called him. At Riviera Beach’s Suncoast High, coaches told him he needed to show more aggression, some recalled.

In a series of videos Harrouff posted on YouTube in the days before the attack, he suggests that although he had used steroids in his bodybuilding pursuits, he no longer needed them. On his college recruiting profile, he listed himself as 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds.

“I don’t need drugs,” he says in one of his most recent videos. ” I know that they can change me. But the thing is that’s not being healthy, you know.”

In watching the videos, and considering the brutal murders in which Harrouff is suspected, South Florida drug expert Jim Hall questioned if muscle-building steroids may have contributed to the unbridled rage.

“Rage episodes usually occur when they are off the drug,” said Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University. “Before I even saw the videos, having heard of his background as an active athlete, I thought this may not be excited delirium, but steroid rage.”

Hall, an expert in flakka, says he has doubts that the synthetic drug — not as available as it once was — played a role in Harrouff’s behavior. “There could be other human growth hormone issues with similar effects,” Hall said.

John Stevens IV said today he would be surprised if drugs emerged as an explanation for Harrouff’s actions. Ivy Stevens said she has heard about YouTube videos in which Harrouff discusses steroids. “But I am not going to watch them,” she said.

A memorial service for John and Michelle Stevens is set for Friday at Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale.

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©2016 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)