Bodycam Shows Suspect in Pittsburgh Doctor’s Killing Once Told Florida Police He Was King Tut

Elijah Hemingway, the 32-year-old man charged with killing Pittsburgh pediatric critical care physician Dr. Idris Evans, once told Florida police he was the reincarnation of King Tutankhamun during a bizarre incident in a Daytona parking lot, according to bodycam footage obtained by WPXI.

In the footage, an officer asks Hemingway, “do you have any thoughts of harming yourself or anyone else?” Hemingway responds, “No, I am a spirit. I am not a physical being,” before claiming to be the reincarnated pharaoh, saying, “I am King Tutankhamun.”

Authorities say Hemingway has 22 past criminal charges. Six stem from run-ins with police and a girlfriend — three connected to the parking lot episode in Daytona and three for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

Hemingway was arrested in July on burglary and theft charges tied to a separate break-in in February, but court records obtained by The Post show he was released just hours later on non-monetary bail.

Weeks later, according to police, Hemingway broke into the Allegheny County home of Dr. Evans and his wife, Gina Evans, just after 12:30 a.m. Thursday and attacked them both with a knife. Dr. Evans was killed; his wife suffered severe stab wounds.

Gina Evans told police Hemingway appeared “psychotic,” was stripped to his underwear, and was ranting about God and “being God” when he entered the home. She said her husband yelled “Elijah” during the attack as if he recognized him. Hemingway told officials he had been invited to the house, but investigators could not verify that claim, and he could not explain how he knew the family, according to court documents cited by WPXI.

The couple’s two children, ages 8 and 12, fled to a neighbor’s home after their mother told them to run.

Hemingway remained hospitalized at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh as of Friday.

Dr. Evans served as co-Medical Director of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Pediatric Transport Team and as an Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, according to his online biography.

“The UPMC and University of Pittsburgh community is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Dr. Idris Evans, a pediatric critical care physician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and an assistant professor of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh,” UPMC said in a statement to WPXI.