Pittsburgh pediatric doctor killed in attack at home

A pediatric critical care doctor was killed and his wife was critically wounded when an attacker stabbed them as they slept in their home near Pittsburgh early Thursday, police said. Their two children escaped unharmed to a neighbor’s house.

Dr. Idris Evans, 46, died at a hospital after the attack in Edgewood Borough. His wife remained hospitalized in critical condition, according to NBC News. Police detained Elijah Hemingway, 32, nearby and charged him with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and criminal trespass. NBC News reported that court records also list a charge of possessing instruments of crime.

Officers arrived at the couple’s home shortly after midnight and found both adults with multiple stab wounds, Allegheny County police said. Evans’ wife told investigators that she and her husband awoke to a man stabbing them in bed with a kitchen knife. She described him as wearing only underwear and making repeated remarks about God and being God, according to a criminal complaint cited by NBC News.

The couple fought back, and Evans’ wife yelled for their children, ages 8 and 12, to flee to a neighbor’s home, the complaint said. She later ran to a neighbor’s house herself to seek help and call 911, NBC News reported.

Allegheny County Assistant Police Superintendent Victor Joseph described the bedroom as “a very violent scene.” Furniture and mirrors were broken, he said. According to NBC News, the complaint says officers found Evans on the floor of the third-story bedroom and a large kitchen knife with suspected blood on it in a nearby bathroom.

Investigators found Hemingway behind a nearby house with cuts to his hand, police said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. Police said he entered the Evans home through an open window before going to the third floor and attacking the couple, CBS News reported.

Hemingway gave investigators a different account. He said Evans had invited him over hours earlier and let him inside when he arrived by bicycle, according to the complaint cited by NBC News. He claimed Evans attacked him with a knife and that he was stabbed in the back during a struggle with both adults. The complaint says no bicycle was found at the property and that Hemingway had no visible injuries beyond those to his hands.

A motive remains unknown. Evans’ wife said she did not know the suspect. Joseph said investigators were examining whether the two men knew each other. The wife believed she heard her husband say “Elijah,” but it was unclear whether he was addressing the attacker or repeating a name the attacker had given, Joseph said.

CBS News reported that Hemingway had been due back in court the following week in a Pittsburgh burglary case and had been released on nonmonetary bond.

Evans was medical director of the Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and an assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, according to CBS News. A hospital spokesperson called him “a dedicated caregiver and valued member of our hospital and university communities” and asked that his family’s privacy be respected.