Lamar Davenport, 30, was arrested on second-degree murder charges after he fatally stabbed Morgan Freeman's step-granddaughter E'Dina Hines, 33, on Sunday in New York City. Davenport was Hines's boyfriend, according to NBC New York.
Police found Hines unresponsive in front of her apartment building on West 162nd street in Washington Heights. Davenport was taken into custody at the scene and was transported to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, authorities said, according to the Daily Beast.
Police responded to a 911 call made around 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Witnesses described hearing Hines' screams as the suspect stood over her. One witness to the crime said the suspect was making religious statements reminiscent of an exorcism. George Hudacko was one of the people who called authorities after he heard the sounds of "grunting and moaning," he told People magazine. The sounds soon turned more sinister and into "screaming and the name 'Lamar'" being shouted.
"There was a young lady laying with her head facing my building," Hudacko recalled. "She was wearing cutoffs and a maroon top. There was a dude over her with his hand going up and down."
"I heard that same man saying, 'In the name of Jesus Lord God, Demons, I command you.' Or something like that," Hudcako said. "He thought he was doing an exorcism."
Hines was the granddaughter of Freeman's first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw. The couple divorced in 1979, after 12 years of marriage, and he always referred to Hines as his granddaughter.
"I want to acknowledge the tremendous outpouring of love and support my family has received regarding the tragic and senseless passing of my granddaughter E'Dena Hines," the actor wrote on his Facebook page. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
