‘We are broken beyond words’: Muslim community mourns death of local pediatrician

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. — “We are coping. That’s the only word that I can say. we are devastated,” said Wajahat Nyaz, Dr. Talat Khan’s older brother.

He said those words just before he said his final goodbye to his beloved sister at the Umar Al-Farooq Mosque. The pediatrician and mother of two was killed last Saturday in the Houston area. She just moved there in July.

“We are devastated. we are broken beyond words,” said Nyaz. “The nature of the crime was heinous. It is very difficult for us to digest what has happened. We can’t make sense of it. The kids are traumatized.”

Police say 24-year-old Miles Fridrich stabbed Khan while she sat at a picnic table near her apartment. Police in Texas still don’t know a motive, but sadly the Muslim community has seen this type of brutality before.

“As Muslims, we need to understand and know what hate crime is,” said Aziz Junejo, a relative who spoke at the service. “6-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume was stabbed twenty-six times and died. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed at least twelve times. And our dear sister, Dr. Talat was horrifically, brutally stabbed. Her pulse was checked, and she was stabbed more. How brutal. This is a copycat crime.”

For seventeen years, Dr. Talat, a pediatrician by practice, helped many members of her community before she moved to Texas.

“This community and the kids around here meant the whole world to her,” Nyaz said.

Thursday afternoon, Nyaz and others close to the mom of two said their goodbyes.

“We are placing her in our final resting place. in our religion we believe you come from God and go back to God. And today she goes back to God,” Nyaz said.

Talat leaves behind two children, a son in his early twenties and a 14-year-old daughter.

Friends say her husband has cried so much since her passing he has no tears left. The medical facility she worked at for nearly two decades sent a statement in the wake of her passing that reads:

Statement on death of Dr. Talat Khan from Sea Mar Community Health Centers:

Sea Mar Community Health Centers is shocked and saddened to hear recent news of the tragic passing of Dr. Talat Khan. Dr.

Khan was a beloved woman, mother and physician who worked as a pediatrician at Sea Mar from 2008 to 2023 at the Monroe Medical Health Center.

For 15 years, she was a dedicated and admired pediatrician who became family to some of her patients and staff. She was a compassionate, caring and patient pediatrician. Children who were lucky to have her as their primary care doctor, together with their parents, loved her.

“The outpouring of love and compassion for her, in Texas, and here locally, is a true testament of her life in service of others,” states Dr. Ricardo Jimenez, VP of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer. Sea Mar wishes to express our deepest condolences to her family, loved ones, and friends. We pray for peace and comfort for all who knew and cared for her.

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