Miles Joseph Fridrich, 24, is accused of stabbing a pediatrician to death in broad daylight, while she was sitting at a picnic table in her apartment complex.
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Neighbors living at the Alys Apartments on Mansions View Drive reported screaming coming near the picnic table by the dog park at about 12:30 p.m.
"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, he turned around, saw me, and ran," Matthew Amador, a witness and neighbor, said.
Conroe police said Fridrich was caught just a short distance from the scene, largely due to witnesses describing his appearance and the direction he fled. He made his preliminary court appearance on Sunday. The judge set his bond at $500,000.
"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 neighborhood like this. It has been horrific for all of us."
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.
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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 center's associate director, said.
RELATED: Man charged in stabbing death of woman found at apartment picnic table in Conroe, DA says
Family members joined neighbors on Sunday evening for a vigil to memorize Khan, who had just moved to the area from Seattle a few months ago. They told ABC13 she was a mother, loved kids, and worked as a pediatrician for Texas Children's Pediatrics in Conroe.
They said they can't fathom how someone could murder her in such a gruesome way.
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"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."
Court records show Fridrich is from the Dallas area. According to his criminal history in Montgomery County, he was charged with drug possession three years ago. His next court hearing has not been scheduled as of Monday evening.
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