Miles Joseph Fridrich (Montgomery County Jail), Dr. Talat Jehan Khan and investigators at the scene (KHOU screenshots)
A 24-year-old man in Texas was arrested over the weekend for allegedly killing a 52-year-old pediatrician, stabbing the victim multiple times as she sat atop a picnic table in the communal area right outside of her own apartment complex.
Miles Joseph Fridrich was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with one count of murder for the slaying of Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
Officers with the Conroe Police Department at about 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 responded to Alys Apartments, a building located in the 15000 block of Mansion’s View Drive in regards to a disturbance involving a weapon, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located an adult female by the common area picnic tables — later identified as Khan — who was suffering from what appeared to be several stab wounds. By the time officers reached the victim, the alleged assailant had reportedly already fled the scene on foot. Authorities attempted life-saving measures on Khan who succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators immediately set up a perimeter and began interviewing eyewitnesses. Police were able to get a detailed description of Khan’s alleged attacker — later identified as Fridrich — who was located and taken into custody on Johnson-Martin Road, a short distance away from the area where Khan was fatally stabbed.
Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that several of Khan’s neighbors witnessed the broad daylight attack on the doctor, including several young children. One of the witnesses, Matthew Amador, a local firefighter currently on leave while battling cancer, told the station that he interrupted the assailant and “spooked” him when he came out wielding a Katana sword.
“I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ And just kind of spooked him,” Amador told KTRK. “It didn’t look like he was there, or was a person — blank face, real dark, you know, evil look in his eyes. He had gone and left three times before I even got there, and when I got there, he was checking her pulse to make sure she was alive and then stabbed her three more times.”
About 17 other neighbors came outside armed with guns, which also allegedly caused Fridrich to flee, Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported.
“I’ve never seen evil like that in my life,” Amador told KPRC.
Another witness told Houston CBS affiliate KHOU that Fridrich just “came out of nowhere” and started stabbing Khan while she was sitting with her dog and talking on the phone.
A restaurant delivery driver in the area told KTRK that Fridrich was homeless and lived beneath an overpass about three miles from where he allegedly stabbed Khan. The driver noted that Fridrich often became upset when the restaurant refused to provide him with free food.
Khan, who is Muslim, reportedly moved into the area with her 14-year-old daughter only a few months ago.
While authorities have not released a possible motive in Khan’s murder, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — Texas released a statement on Facebook saying the organization is “in conversations with law enforcement agencies” and is “paying close attention to the investigation.”
Fridrich is currently being held at the Montgomery County Jail on $500,000 bond, prosecutors confirmed to Law&Crime.
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