Pittsburgh doctor dies after being stabbed during home invasion
by Brad Matthews · The Washington TimesA doctor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center died Thursday after an alleged home invader attacked him and his wife while they slept. The victim’s wife remains in critical condition.
Dr. Idris Evans, 46, and his wife, who police did not name, were asleep in their Pittsburgh-area home at 12:31 a.m. Thursday when the stabbing attack began. The Allegheny County Police Department accused Elijah Hemingway, 32, of breaking into their home and attacking the couple.
The police said they believe Mr. Hemingway accessed the residence via a back window, according to ABC News.
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Dr. Evans died after being transported to the hospital, while his wife is in critical condition. Mr. Hemingway was found with lacerations to his hands and was taken in for treatment. He faces charges including criminal homicide, aggravated assault, criminal trespass and burglary, police said.
The wife told police that Mr. Hemingway was wearing only underwear, was wielding a kitchen knife and that he said something about being God. She also said Dr. Evans addressed Mr. Hemingway by his first name as if the two were acquainted, according to court documents cited by KDKA-TV.
The couple’s two children, 8 and 12 years old, were home at the time of the attack. The wife told police that she yelled for them to flee during the attack, according to KDKA-TV. The children escaped safely.
Allegheny County Assistant Police Superintendent Victor Joseph said at a news conference that police are trying to figure out if the two men actually knew each other or if Mr. Hemingway gave his name during the attack, according to NBC News.
Mr. Hemingway told police that Dr. Evans had invited him to the residence hours earlier and let him in after he arrived on a bike, though police did not find any bike at the residence. Mr. Hemingway also told police that Dr. Evans attacked him first and stabbed him in the back, though Mr. Hemingway did not have wounds anywhere but his hands, according to court documents cited by NBC News.
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Dr. Evans was the co-medical director for pediatric transport at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and taught as an assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“The UPMC and University of Pittsburgh community is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Dr. Idris Evans. … Dr. Evans was a dedicated caregiver and valued member of our hospital and university communities. Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones and colleagues during this difficult time,” the hospital said in a statement to medical industry trade magazine Becker’s Hospital Review.
Mr. Hemingway has a prior criminal history, including state charges of burglary and theft. He is accused of breaking into the Pittsburgh home of a former partner in February and stealing a laptop and two cellphones, according to WTAE-TV.
Mr. Hemingway, who is due back in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on those charges, was arrested July 9 and let out on non-monetary bail on July 10, according to state court records.
Mr. Hemingway was also charged in Florida in April 2025 for battery against a police officer, resisting an officer violently and violating pretrial release.
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The Volusia Sheriff’s Office, which arrested him in the case, said Friday that they responded to a complaint by a bank employee after threats were made and that Mr. Hemingway claimed to be inside a simulation and that he was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
The sheriff’s office said Mr. Hemingway was then involuntarily committed on mental health grounds until he was deemed mentally competent enough to face charges. Upon being deemed competent, Mr. Hemingway pleaded no contest and was sentenced to time served.
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