“The world will never know her artistry and talent and how much she had to offer. Her star will continue to shine bright in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. May she rest in peace.” -- Morgan Freeman's statement on the death of his step-granddaughter, E’Dena Hines. 

Early yesterday morning (Aug. 16), E'Dena Hines, a film and Broadway actor, was stabbed to death at the intersection West 162nd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, just a couple of blocks from where she lived. She was 33. According to the New York Post and police sources, the killer is believed to be Hines' live-in boyfriend, a 30-year-old aspiring actor and rapper Lamar Davenport. Hines is the step-granddaughter of the Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman; her grandmother, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw, was Freeman's first wife.

Though a friend who had dinner with Hines and Davenport just hours prior said the couple seemed extremely happy, by 3:00 a.m. Davenport was in an apparent drug psychosis and began stabbing his girlfriend with a hunting knife. Witnesses say Davenport shouted repeatedly about devils, demons and Jesus Christ, and it was apparent that he thought he was performing some sort of exorcism. A police source told the Post that by the time Davenport was wrestled off Hines' lifeless body, he was still making stabbing motions with his empty hand, despite the knife being lodged in her chest.

Those same law enforcement sources say that Davenport has a half-dozen arrests on his record, and is believed to have abused cocaine and other drugs. He has two children; Hines is not the mother of either one. He has been charged with murder and is awaiting psychiatric evaluation.

Hines starred as Beneatha in the 2012 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun. After that, she left for her hometown of Memphis to teach; recently, she returned to New York to star in the independent film Landing Up. Daniel Tenenbaum, that project's director, called Hines "an amazing, incredible, loving human being."

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