A respected pediatric critical-care doctor who dedicated his career to treating gravely ill children was stabbed to death inside his Pennsylvania home early Thursday morning while his own two children were sleeping nearby.
And the man accused of the horrific attack was reportedly already facing felony burglary charges, and had been released on non-monetary bail.
Dr. Idris V.R. Evans, 46, served as co-medical director of the Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and as an assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, according to his profile on the University of Pittsburgh.
Colleagues described him as a dedicated caregiver whose work focused on the sickest kids, pediatric sepsis, critical care transport, and keeping children alive when they arrived at the hospital in the worst possible shape.
That life ended around 12:30 a.m. Thursday in the family’s Edgewood home on Linden Avenue, KDKA reported.
According to WPXI, citing Allegheny County police and court documents, 32-year-old Elijah Hemingway of Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood entered the home through a window, went to the third-floor bedroom, and attacked Evans and his wife with a kitchen knife while they slept.
Hemingway was wearing only underwear and reportedly talked about “being God” during the assault.
Evans’ wife later told investigators they woke to the attack; she yelled for their 8-year-old and 12-year-old children to get out of the house and run to a neighbor.
The children escaped unharmed. Evans died at the hospital. His wife remained in critical but stable condition.
Police described a “very violent scene” with broken furniture and mirrors in the bedroom. Hemingway was found hiding behind a nearby house with cuts on his hand.
He is charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, and related counts. In interviews he claimed Evans had invited him over hours earlier and that the couple attacked him first. Investigators said they found no evidence supporting that account.
Evans’ wife told police she did not know the man, though her husband addressed him as “Elijah,” according to KDKA.
Court records list Hemingway as a Black male. He was already free on the street because of how Allegheny County handles bail.
Hemingway had been arrested in July 2026 on felony burglary and theft charges from a February incident at an ex-girlfriend’s home, where he allegedly took electronics.
His bail in that case was set at $0.00, non-monetary, also called cashless or release on non-cash conditions. A preliminary hearing was still pending. He also had a record of traffic offenses and disorderly conduct citations.
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