Miles Joseph Fridrich Houston area man stabs Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, Texas doctor to death as she sat on picnic table outside home in possible hate crime. Motive remains unknown.
Hate crime? A Houston area paediatrician was stabbed to death over the weekend as she sat on a picnic table outside her apartment.
Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, a 52-year-old mother of two, was casually sitting with her dog in the city of Conroe on Saturday when Miles Joseph Fridrich ‘came out of no-where’ and allegedly stabbed her multiple times, police said, according to reports.
A local resident who witnessed the stabbing, told the Houston Chronicle that they observed the suspect ‘checking her pulse to make sure she was alive and then stabbed her three more times.’
Unknown motive
‘This is an immeasurable loss for our family, completely unexpected,’ Khan’s niece Mahnoor Mangrio told KHOU.
‘She’s a Muslim, strong in her faith, those are identifiable traits about her. She’s extremely loving, kind. She was my aunt … the best aunt.’
A motive for the stabbing was not immediately clear following Fridrich’s arrest. The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Houston said in a statement it is ‘paying very close attention’ to the probe.
‘We are unsure at this moment if this was a hate crime, however given the tragic circumstances, we are paying very close attention to the investigation,’ the organization said in a statement. ‘We will continue to monitor the situation while we launch our own investigation and continue established dialogue with law enforcement.’
Fridrich, 24, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder.
He allegedly attacked Khan around 12:30 p.m. at the Alys Apartments before fleeing on foot, Conroe police said, according to KTRK. Khan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fridrich was arrested after witnesses gave authorities a description of the alleged assailant.
A witness told KHOU the suspect ‘came out of nowhere’ in the shocking attack.
‘I was outside and I heard a woman out there, and I heard that she was screaming,’ the witness told KHOU. ‘She was sitting at the picnic table.’
Targeted in possible hate crime?
The slain paediatrician of Pakistan heritage had only moved to Texas over the summer with her 14 year old daughter.
Wajahat Nyaz told KPRC that his slain sister moved to the area from Seattle in July to enjoy the area’s climate.
‘She liked to see the sun and warm weather, so that was one of the main reasons why she moved here,’ he said.
The victim leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son.
‘Her kids and her kids she looked after as a pediatrician were her entire life,’ Nyaz also said. ‘Everything in her life revolved around those two things.’
Family members said they didn’t believe Khan and Fridrich know each other prior to the slaying.
Fridrich has faced previous drug and weapon charges in Conroe that were later disposed of or dismissed, KPRC reported.
Fridrich according to reports had an address in Dallas but according to witnesses who spoke with KTRK, the assailant had apparently been living under an overpass about three miles from the apartment complex.
The mosque in Texas that Khan attended expressed its condolences to the family while encouraging members to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.
The Al-Ansaar Islamic Center also said it was looking into additional security for Friday prayer and other programs while planning to share its safety concerns with Montgomery County authorities, according to a Facebook post.
The stabbing comes amid increased tensions surrounding the conflict surrounding Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, with a Plainfield Township, Illinois landlord stabbing a 6 year old Muslim boy of Palestinian heritage to death following heightened rhetoric amid the ongoing atrocities in the region.
Authorities to date have yet to say what led to the doctor being targeted by her assailant.
