Talat Jehan Khan Killed While At Picnic, Suspect Charged With Murder
A woman identified as Talat Jehan Khan was seated at a picnic table on the grounds of an apartment complex in Conroe, Texas, when someone stabbed her to death on Saturday afternoon, shocking the residents.
The suspect, 24-year-old Miles Joseph Fridrich, was named by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office on Sunday. He is being held on a murder charge of the first degree. A $500,000 bond was set for Fridrich's release from the Montgomery County Jail.
A witness told KHOU 11 that she heard the victim crying at 12:30 p.m., and that she later saw EMTs attempting to save her, but that she ultimately did not make it.
“I was outside and I heard a woman out there, and I heard that she was screaming. She was sitting at the picnic table.” the woman said.
"That alerted a lot of people. I grabbed my phone and my sword, which is the only weapon I have and I ran outside. I saw the person checking her pulse to make sure she was alive and then stabbed her again. I yelled at him, and he turned around, saw me, and ran," Matthew Amador, a witness and neighbour, said.
"Whatever it was, it was just something super evil," Amador said. "I'm a little taken aback now, worried for my family, and going out safely. Just because this is something that doesn't normally happen in a neighbourhood like this. It has been horrific for all of us."
Conroe police have reported that 52-year-old Dr Talat Jehan Khan died from several stab wounds at the Alys Apartments on Mansions View.
The eyewitness stated that Khan and her dog were sitting at the table when an unknown man "came out of nowhere."
According to reports, Fridrich fled the scene but was apprehended shortly thereafter.
"Witnesses on scene gave a good description of the suspect and his direction of travel," police said. "Officers quickly set up a perimeter and were able to locate and detain the suspect a short distance away on Johnson-Martin Rd."
Witnesses worry this could be an act of hate. Family members of the victim, Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, 52, said they don't recognize Fridrich. Investigators told ABC13 they are looking into every possibility for the motive, including a hate crime, but noted this could have also been a completely random act of violence.
In the meantime, the Al-Ansaar Islamic Center in the Woodlands, the mosque that Khan attended, is ramping up their security on the weekend as a precautionary measure.
"The community is anxious and they want to know what happened. We don't know if it was a hate crime or if there was some crazy person doing something bad. So, we hope that there's more clarity and things will go back to normal," Mohammed Ayubi, the centre's associate director, said.
Khan's family and friends in the region held a memorial service for her on Sunday night. Khan had only arrived here from Seattle a few months before. ABC13 was told that she was a paediatrician at Texas Children's Paediatrics in Conroe, loved children, and was a mother.
They claim they simply cannot understand how she could have been murdered in such a horrific fashion.
"We are utterly devastated. This is an immeasurable loss for our family, completely unexpected. There are a lot of feelings surrounding it, but we miss her. We're just grieving," Mahnoor Mangrio, Khan's niece, said.
"I lost my baby sister. It's very emotional for us. It was such a senseless murder. We are still trying to wrap our heads around it," Khan's brother, Wajahat Nyaz, said. "To get justice for this is very important. A murder like this should not go unpunished. It's bad for the entire community and entire country."
According to the case files, Fridrich is a local of the Dallas area. His record shows that he was arrested for drug possession in Montgomery County three years ago. As of Monday night, no date had been set for his next court appearance.