Texas pediatrician, 52, is stabbed to death by knifeman, 24, who ‘came out of nowhere’ while she was sitting at a picnic table outside her apartment and ‘checked her pulse’ before fleeing

• Dr Talat Khan, 52, had only moved to Texas from Seattle in July ‘for the weather’
• Council on American-Islamic Relations called for it to be probed as a hate crime
• Witness said 17 residents came out with guns after hearing the doctor scream

A beloved Texas children’s doctor has been stabbed to death while sitting at a picnic table outside her apartment.

Dr Talat Khan, 52, was sitting with her dog outside her apartment block in Conroe when the killer ‘came out of nowhere’ and launched himself on the mother-of-two.

‘The perpetrator was checking her pulse which was really bad,’ said witness Matthew Amador.

‘I looked out, and they were all running. I grabbed my sword, and I grabbed my phone. I saw him checking her pulse, and then he stabbed her three times.

‘I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ And just kind of spooked him,’ the firefighter added.

‘He turned around and looked at me then ran.’ Amador said more than a dozen people came out of the apartment block carrying guns after they were alerted by Dr Khan’s screams.

‘I started yelling out the description, tall white guy, purple shirt, tall white guy, purple shirt!’ Amador told KPRC. ‘I’ve never seen evil like that in my life,’ Amador said.

Dr Khan’s brother said his murdered sister left behind a 14-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son, and had only moved to Texas from Seattle in July.

Wajahat Nyaz said he did not believe there was any previous connection between his sister and her killer. 

‘She liked to see the sun and warm weather, so that was one of the main reasons why she moved here,’ he added.

‘Her kids, and her kids she looked after as a pediatrician were her entire life. Everything in her life revolved around those two things.’

Within moments police had arrested Miles Joseph Fridrich, 24, close to the Alys Apartments where the murder took place at 12.30pm on Saturday.

Fridrich has faced previous drug and weapon charges in Conroe that were later disposed of or dismissed, KPRC reported.

Investigators said they had no idea of a motive but the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Houston said it was ‘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,’ it added in a statement.

‘We will continue to monitor the situation while we launch our own investigation and continue established dialogue with law enforcement.’

The nearby Al-Ansaar Islamic Center said it planned to lay on additional security for Friday prayer and urged worshippers to take care.

A delivery driver who spoke to ABC13 said Fridrich lives under an overpass about three miles from the apartment complex and often became upset when his store declined to give him food.

‘It didn’t look like he was there, or was a person, blank face, real dark, you know, evil look in his eyes,’ Amador said.

Fridrich was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

‘This is an immeasurable loss for our family, completely unexpected,’ Khan’s niece Mahnoor Mangrio said.

‘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.’