BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — Police have named 24-year-old Alize Smith, as a person of interest in a Sunday triple murder of a father and his sons, 5 and 7, in Belvidere.

Smith served four years prison for 2016 robberies to a loan store in McHenry and a 7-Eleven in Huntley, using a BB gun. He was paroled in June 2021.

He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Tuesday for parole violations.

A search warrant at a residence in the 11000 block of Timer Drive in Huntley was conducted, where police say several pieces of evidence were recovered.

He is being held without bond at the Boone County Jail and has not been charged with the murders.

The murders happened Sunday night at 628 Union Ave. Police said that they were called to the home around 9:45 p.m., at which time they found the bodies of 31-year-old Andrew Hintt and his five and seven-year-old sons inside.

All three had been shot, police said.

Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody said that Smith was with Hintt and the boys on the morning of December 19, the same day their bodies were found inside the their home.

Woody said that the U.S. Marshals Service contacted them on Tuesday, and said that they had taken Smith into custody on an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant for parole violations. Belvidere detectives interviewed Smith.

Family and friends are grieving the loss of Hintt and his two boys. The Boone County Corner confirmed after the autopsy that all three had been shot.

Neighbors said that Hintt would often take his kids on dirtbike rides around the neighborhood, and that the boys were full of life and energy.

Maddie, Hintt’s fiancé and mother to the boys said in a statement; “There are no words that I can truly say to describe the insurmountable pain we are all going through. Benjamin, Sebastian and Andrew, I love you boys. We will never be the same again. Our hearts will never be whole again.”

Theresa Hintt Thompson, Hintt’s aunt, said that the family now wants justice, and that what was taken from them will never be replaced.

“Whether it’s in jail that he’s caught, or whether someone finds him, they will make sure he pays for this, for what he did to two little innocent boys,” THompson said.

Hintt’s SUV, a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, was missing and was believed to be stolen.

The investigation is still ongoing, and the Belvidere Police continued to ask for tips from the public regarding the tragedy.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for the boys’ memorial service.