Elijah Hemingway, man charged with killing Pittsburgh doctor in home invasion, had criminal history

A man was arrested after police said he broke into a family's home and stabbed the parents while they slept, killing a doctor and injuring his wife in Edgewood. The alleged attack comes just a week before he was supposed to appear back in court for a burglary in Pittsburgh earlier this year. 

Police said 32-year-old Elijah Hemingway was arrested after he was found behind a nearby home with lacerations on his hand. He's been charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and criminal trespass. 

Police said 46-year-old Idris Evans, a doctor at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, was sleeping at his home on Linden Avenue when he and his wife Gina Evans were violently attacked, all while their two young children, ages 8 and 12, were home.

Suspect arrested in July 

Hemingway was arrested in July following what police said was a burglary in Pittsburgh's Spring Hill-City View neighborhood.

Back in February, a woman reported to police that she had just returned home from dropping off her child at daycare when she noticed her laptop had been moved. 

The criminal complaint says she looked at her Nest camera and saw Hemingway force himself inside and steal two iPhone 13s and her laptop. 

She explained to police that Hemingway was her former partner. She told police he never lived there and was not allowed to be inside.

Released on nonmonetary bond

Hemingway was charged with both burglary and theft by unlawful taking. Court records show he was released the day after his arrest on a nonmonetary bond — in other words, without payment. 

Attorney Phil DiLucente, who is not representing Hemingway in either case, explained that when deciding on bond, courts take into account a few things. They look at criminal history, if someone is a threat to the community and if they are a flight risk. 

DiLucente said in the burglary case, based on Pennsylvania's online court records system, Hemingway had no previous criminal history, just summary offenses.

Criminal history in Florida

Before he came to Allegheny County, the Volusia Sheriff's Office in Florida said in a Facebook post that Hemingway was arrested there twice last year. In March 2025, he was charged with assaulting a woman, and a month later, he was charged with assaulting deputies, the sheriff's office said. 

The Volusia Sheriff's Office said the court ordered Hemingway to be held involuntarily for mental health treatment. 

KDKA learned a court-ordered competency evaluation out of Florida found Hemingway suffered from a mental illness that impacted his ability to understand his case and work with an attorney. The doctor also found a substantial likelihood he could be a danger to himself or others without treatment.

Several months later, Hemingway was deemed competent, pleaded no contest to his charges and was sentenced to time served.   

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala weighed in on the case on Friday, saying if his office had known about Hemingway's history in Florida, his office would have stepped in and appealed his release in the Pittsburgh burglary case.