Pittsburgh UPMC Children's Hospital Physician's Stabbing Death: New Info Emerges

EDGEWOOD, PA — Despite facing two felony charges, the suspect in the stabbing death of a UPMC Children's Hospital physician and the wounding of his wife was free on cashless bond when the crime occurred early Thursday.

According to court documents, Elijah Hamilton, 32, of West Mifflin, was arraigned in July on charges of burglary, a first-degree felony, and theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.

Two preliminary hearings on those charges were continued, and Hamilton was to face another one next week. The district judge presiding over his case had released Hamilton on nonmonetary bond, and he was free when he allegedly committed the brutal crime.

Hamilton is accused of breaking into the Linden Avenue home of UPMC Children's Hospital, stabbing Dr. Idris Evans to death and critically wounding his wife. The attack allegedly began while the couple was sleeping.

"It was a very violent scene – the bedroom furniture broken, mirrors broken," Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph said at a new conference Thursday. "It was a very graphic scene."

Evans' wife and two children were able to escape the house and flee to a neighbor's home. Police located Hemingway a short time later hiding behind a nearby home suffering lacerations to his hand.

A GoFundMe page has been established to assist the Evans family.

"Idris chose one of the hardest paths in medicine - pediatric critical care," said Neil Devani, who established the page.

"For the past 10+ years, he cared for the sickest children in and around the Pittsburgh area. As the Assistant Professor for Critical Care Medicine and Medical Director of the Pediatric Transport Team at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, he also led other physicians and care providers trying to save kids' lives. The choice to do that kind of work, subjecting yourself to the repeated heartbreak of losing children just to have the opportunity to save the ones you can, perfectly epitomizes the type of man that Idris Evans was."