Morgan Freeman mourns granddaughter found stabbed to death in New York City

Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter was stabbed to death Sunday morning in New York.

New York police found Freeman’s granddaughter by marriage, 33-year-old E’dena Hines, lying in the street outside her apartment in Washington Heights with some 16 stab wounds to her body, police said. She was taken to Harlem Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“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.”

Authorities found a 30-year-old male suspect, whom police described as her boyfriend, standing over her body and shouting out Bible versus, police told Newsday. He was taken into custody and transported by ambulance to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center for a psychological evaluation.

Police have not released his name.

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One witness said he appeared to be trying to exorcise her from demons.

“Get out devils! I cast you out Devils in the name of Jesus Christ! I cast you out!” the suspect screamed, witness George Hudacko, 65, told the New York Daily News.

Hines, an actress, recently returned to New York from Memphis to film an independent movie called “Landing Up,” which was shot in Bushwick, Brooklyn. “My dream has come true and its just beginning,” she wrote on her blog in July. “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.”

“We’re just in shock, we’re in total grief,” Stacey Maltin, 30, an actress and screenwriter who wrote the script, told Newsday. “We really just can’t believe that anyone would want to do this to her, that she was taken from the world in this way.”

“She’s so talented, so genuine, and in the moment, raw,” she added. “She just gave everything when she was on set. She was never half there, she was always all there.”

Last year, Hines played a receptionist in Freeman’s film “5 Flights Up.” She has appeared in other small roles, including parts in the TV show “A Minority Report” and in the ABC hidden-camera show “What Would You Do?”

“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 Sunday night on his Facebook page. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The stabbing is still under investigation. No charges have been filed.