Homicide detectives are trying to determine the motive in the seemingly senseless knife murder of a Pittsburgh children’s hospital physician as he slept in his bed with his wife, who was also stabbed.
Dr. Idris Evans, 46, of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, died after he and his wife were repeatedly knifed while they slept in their Edgewood Borough home sometime around midnight Thursday, according to the Allegheny County Police Department.
A suspect, found hiding in the foliage in a nearby home and reportedly free on cashless bail on a separate burglary charge, has been taken into custody.
Evans’ wife told police that they awoke to a man attacking them in bed with a kitchen knife, according to court documents cited by CBS News. She said he was wearing only underwear and uttered something about “being God,” according to that police report.
During the attack, Evan’s wife yelled for their children, ages 8 and 12, to flee to their neighbors’ home.
She also told detectives that her husband called their attacker by the name “Elijah,” an indication that he knew the assailant.
First responders arrived on the scene at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday to find the husband and wife suffering from stab wounds. They were immediately taken to a local hospital in critical condition, but the doctor was eventually pronounced dead.
“It was a very violent scene,” Allegheny County Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph said. “The bedroom furniture was broken, mirrors broken. It was a very graphic scene.”
The alleged attacker was arrested near the scene and identified as 32-year-old
Elijah Hemingway. He was tracked by a K-9 unit and found, with lacerations on his hand, concealed in foliage behind a nearby home, police said.
Hemingway faces multiple charges, including homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, and criminal trespass.
Police said Hemingway got into the house through an open window, went to the third floor and started stabbing the couple as they slept.
Now detectives are trying to ascertain the suspect’s motive.
“We do not know if there was any pre-existing relationship,” Joseph said. “The woman did not know this male. We are trying to determine if the two males knew each other.”
The alleged attack comes just a week before Hemingway was due back in court for a burglary in Pittsburgh earlier this year, CBS reported per court records. He was released in that case on a cashless bond.
Evans was the medical director of the Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team at UPMC Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, according to his profile there.
“Dr. Evans was a dedicated caregiver and valued member of our hospital and university communities,” a UPMC spokesperson said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones, and colleagues during this difficult time.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Masquerade: A True Story of Seduction, Compulsion and Murder, the story of the sordid double life of an elite Detroit psychologist which is revealed only after his murder and dismemberment. He’s authored ten nonfiction crime books and novels. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
