Joe and Grace DeIuliis didn't like Robert DeAngelis, the former boyfriend of their daughter, Sarah, and were relieved when she broke off her relationship with him before the end of last school year.

Sarah DeIuliis


Robert DeAngelis

But the Mt. Lebanon couple had no idea how troubled Mr. DeAngelis was until Wednesday evening, when police say he attacked Sarah with a hammer after luring her to a secluded area near the Port Authority Light Rail Transit tracks in Mt. Lebanon.

When she broke free during the attack, he threw himself in front of a trolley in what police believe was a suicide attempt.

"For something like this to happen, I can't even put words to this," said Mr. DeIuliis, who described his daughter as a "beautiful, quiet, shy kid with a 4.4 grade point average."

Miss DeIuliis, 16, was in fair condition in Children's Hospital, where she was being treated for injuries that her father said include lacerations to the back of her head where she was hit with a hammer, a broken bone in her face and bruises to her face.

He said her face was swollen and she was "in a lot of pain," but was expected to make a full recovery.

Mr. DeAngelis, also 16, was in critical condition at Mercy Hospital. His injuries were said to be life-threatening.

Mr. DeIuliis said his daughter dated Mr. DeAngelis for several months last year but broke it off before the end of the school year at the urging of her parents.

Mr. DeIuliis said his daughter met with Mr. DeAngelis Wednesday to retrieve a sketch book and other books that belonged to her. He said she had no reason to think that Mr. DeAngelis would become violent during the meeting.

Mr. DeAngelis' parents, Robert and Diana, said through a spokesman that their son did not show any signs that he was troubled or planning an attack against Miss DeIuliis.

"It is shocking for everyone. I don't think that anyone could imagine that something like this could happen," said Louis Emmi, an attorney and friend of the DeAngelis family.

He said that the younger Robert DeAngelis has not been in trouble and "has never been arrested" and "there were no indications that he was suicidal."

Mr. Emmi said because the teen has been unconscious since the incident, the only details his parents know are those that are being reported in the media.

"At this point, the DeAngelis family has two particular concerns -- that Sarah recovers and that she is fine and that their son has some type of recovery," Mr. Emmi said.

Police were monitoring Mr. DeAngelis' medical condition and had not filed charges yesterday.

Mt. Lebanon police Lt. Ken Truver said that his department "had minor contacts with the young man" in the past.

But Lt. Truver said he couldn't provide details because "we don't release any information related to contact with juveniles."

Allegheny County police believe that Mr. DeAngelis planned to kill his ex-girlfriend and then commit suicide when he lured her to a wooded area off Castle Shannon Boulevard, about a mile from her home and not too far from his home.

Police said the two, both juniors, had met at Mt. Lebanon High School and he asked her to walk with him for 30 minutes.

Mr. DeIuliis, who is a candidate in the Mt. Lebanon commissioner's race, said he believes Mr. DeAngelis sent a text message to his daughter's cell phone asking her to meet him and said that if she met with him for 30 minutes he would give her back her belongings.

"She wanted her items back. She had no interest in him," Mr. DeIuliis said.

Mr. DeAngelis brought with him a bag containing a hammer, a knife and duct tape. Mr. DeIuliis said his daughter thought her books were in the bag.

Police said Mr. DeAngelis attacked Miss DeIuliis with the hammer as they walked on a trail near the trolley tracks, but Detective Lawrence Carpico, an off-duty county homicide detective who happened to be walking his dog, scared the teen off during the attack.

When Mr. DeAngelis saw the detective approaching, he pulled Miss DeIuliis off the trail, but she got away and ran toward Mr. Carpico screaming, "Help me. Help me."

Mr. DeAngelis, police said, ran from the scene and jumped in front of the 42C Castle Shannon-Beechview trolley. The train hit him and knocked him to the side of the tracks at around 5:45 p.m.

Mr. DeIuliis said it was "by the grace of God" that Mr. Carpico came upon the attack. "He's a hero. She probably wouldn't have made it without him," he said.

Mr. DeIuliis said as Mr. DeAngelis ran from the scene, he told his daughter that he planned to kill himself. He said his daughter told him after the attack that Mr. DeAngelis had talked about committing suicide in the past.

He said she also told her parents after the attack that Mr. DeAngelis had hit her once in the past.

Mr. DeIuliis said there were no indications that Mr. DeAngelis was abusive to his daughter while they were dating, but that his daughter, who he described as "usually happy and cheerful," was morose while dating Mr. DeAngelis.

"When she ended the relationship, before summer, she went back to being herself," he said.

Mr. DeIuliis said that he and his wife had concerns about Mr. DeAngelis because the teen appeared to have "bad judgment."

He declined to give specific examples other than to say the last time Mr. DeAngelis came to the DeIuliis home, he was wearing pajama bottoms.

"I told him I would take him home to change, that it was not acceptable. He called his parents to pick him up and he was never back in the house again," Mr. DeIuliis said.

Mr. DeAngelis drew attention to himself in February as one of the male students who ridiculed a female speaker who was giving a presentation to the male student body at Mt. Lebanon High School about female bullying and aggression.

During a part of the presentation when the speaker, Penn State Professor Cheryl Dellasega, asked for audience participation, Mr. DeAngelis came to the front of the auditorium dressed in girl's clothing -- sweat pants from Hollister and a small, hooded T-shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch.

He took the microphone and started to make fun of the presentation. But some boys who were on the stage to perform in a skit took the microphone from him and the assembly ended.