STAR’S KNIFE SHOCK
Freeman granddaughter slain Stab-susp beau yells of ‘devil’
THE GRANDDAUGHTER of Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was stabbed to death on a street by her deranged boyfriend as he yelled “Get out, devils!” in Washington Heights early Sunday, police sources and a witnesses said.
Officers found E’Dena Hines, 33, lying in the middle of W. 162nd St. near St. Nicholas Ave. with several knife wounds to her chest at around 3 a.m., according to authorities.
“Get out, devils! I cast you out, devils, in the name of Jesus Christ! I cast you out!” the 30-year-old man repeatedly said, according to George Hudacko, 65, who saw the attack from his third-floor apartment and called 911.
“I watched someone get murdered, and there was nothing I could do,” Hudacko added.
Hines appeared to be topless, said another witness, Jovita Bedolla, 26, who saw the murder from her bathroom window.
Police said the attacker uttered verses from the Bible as he plunged the knife into Hines.
The killer, who police sources identified as Lamar Davenport, 30, was taken into custody and the knife was recovered at the scene, authorities said.
Hines was rushed to Harlem Hospital, but she could not be saved, police said.
“The world will never know her artistry and talent, and how much she had to offer,” Freeman said in a statement. “Her friends and family were fortunate enough to have known what she meant as a person. Her star will continue to shine bright in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. May she rest in peace.”
The suspect had not been charged as of Sunday evening.
He was undergoing a mental evaluation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia, the police source said.
It is unclear what triggered the attack.
“He was totally off the wrench,” said Patrick Curry, 27, who witnessed the stabbing from his bathroom on the third floor. “He had totally snapped. It was just really scary.”
Hines was an aspiring actress who had left New York but moved back in April after being cast in an indie film called “Landing Up,” according to posts on Facebook and her personal website.
“My dream has come true and it’s just beginning,” she wrote in a blog post on July 7. “Life can make you want to give up or walk away, sometimes it gives you the strength to appreciate when you do get your happy ending.”
Hines studied acting at New York University’s acclaimed graduate acting program and taught youths in need in Memphis.
A friend who had gone out to
dinner with the couple the night before told the Daily Beast that Hines seemed “ecstatic.”
“I’ve never seen E’Dena as happy as she was last night,” pal Ray Rosario told the website.
“I’m still trying to come to grips with what happened,” Rosario, who is a musician, told the site. “I’m caught between the hate I have for him, my love for him being my brother, and my heart breaking for her.”
On her website, Hines talked about her personality.
“Energetic. Loud. Animated,” she wrote on July 9. “That’s probably the first three words that pop up into people’s heads when they think about me.”
She was worried her outgoing personality was hurting her acting career.
“I thought I was the group cheerleader, giving them what they needed to keep going cause I was blessed with exuberant amounts of energy, but, I was more exhausted when it counted,” she wrote online. “While everyone else would be relaxing on breaks, I was entertaining or so I thought. I also became aware that my voice was always heard above others which meant they all knew about me, but I didn’t actually know a lot about them.”
In 2012, the 78-year-old Freeman and Hines denied they were dating and soon to be married.
“These stories about me and my grandfather are not only untrue, they are also hurtful to me and my family,” Hines said at the time.
She is the granddaughter of Freeman and his first wife, Jeannette Adair Bradshaw. The two — who were married from 1967 until 1979 — adopted her mother. Freeman later married Myrna Colley-Lee in 1984; the pair divorced in 2010.
Freeman took to Facebook hours after the killing to thank his supporters during the difficult time.
“I want to acknowledge the tremendous outpouring of love and support my family has received regarding the tragic and senseless passing of my granddaughter Edena Hines,” Freeman wrote. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Charges were pending against Davenport early Monday, according to authorities.