The victim was found on a West Wingohocking Street porch after a late-night argument, police say.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A 28-year-old Philadelphia man has been charged with murder after police said he stabbed his 61-year-old father several times in the neck during a late-night argument at a home on West Wingohocking Street.

Devin Jenkins is being held without bail at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the death of his father, Kevin Jenkins, court records show. The case moved into Philadelphia County court after police said officers responded to a weapon report shortly before midnight April 4 and found the older man badly wounded on the porch. The killing left investigators with a family relationship, a narrow time frame and a central question they have not answered publicly: what the argument was about.

The first call sent officers to the 600 block of West Wingohocking Street at about 11:34 p.m. Saturday, police said. They arrived at the North Philadelphia property and found Kevin Jenkins lying on the porch with multiple stab wounds to his neck. The injury pattern described by police placed the violence at close range and made the porch the first public scene in a case that began, officials said, as a dispute between father and son. Emergency medical workers took Kevin Jenkins to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. Sunday. Philadelphia police said Devin Jenkins was taken into custody at the home.

Police have not released a full narrative of the moments before the stabbing. They have said only that a preliminary investigation found the two men were arguing and that Devin Jenkins stabbed his father multiple times during the dispute. A local report cited police as saying the 911 call involved a person with a weapon. No public account has named the caller, said whether anyone else was inside the home or explained whether the confrontation began indoors before moving to the porch. Officials also have not said whether a weapon was recovered from the property, though the charges include possession of an instrument of crime with intent.

After his arrest, Devin Jenkins was taken to a different hospital for treatment of a minor cut to his left index finger, police said. That detail became one of the few injuries publicly linked to the defendant in the early reports. Police said he was processed after being treated. The department’s statement did not say how the finger was cut, whether detectives believe it occurred during the stabbing or whether the injury was examined as evidence. Investigators often use medical treatment records, photographs, clothing and forensic testing to reconstruct a violent encounter, but Philadelphia officials have not disclosed what evidence has been collected in this case.

The charges place the case among Philadelphia’s most serious criminal prosecutions. Murder is the lead count, with a weapons count tied to the alleged use of a stabbing instrument. Court records cited in public reports show Jenkins appeared for a preliminary arraignment on the Monday after the killing. At that early stage, a defendant is informed of the charges and bail status is set. Jenkins was ordered held without bail. He had been scheduled to return for a preliminary hearing April 20, when prosecutors would be expected to present enough evidence for the case to move forward. No later public report reviewed for this article confirmed the outcome of that hearing.

The location also gave the case a stark public setting. The 600 block of West Wingohocking Street is a residential stretch in North Philadelphia, and police said the wounded man was found not hidden inside a room but on the porch of the property. That detail shaped how the case was first reported because it placed the victim at the threshold of the home when officers arrived. The home address has not been publicly tied to a motive, and authorities have not said whether Kevin Jenkins lived there, whether Devin Jenkins lived there or whether either man was visiting. What police did release was the relationship between the men, the argument and the alleged act.

Kevin Jenkins’ death was recorded within minutes of the police response. Officers were dispatched at about 11:34 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m., leaving a span of less than 40 minutes between the reported emergency and the hospital declaration. The police account does not describe what condition he was in when medics reached him, whether officers tried lifesaving care before the ambulance arrived or how long the transport took. It also does not say whether he was able to speak before he died. Those gaps remain important because prosecutors often rely on medical findings, witness accounts and police observations to establish how a homicide unfolded.

Authorities have used cautious language in describing the case, saying the investigation remains active and ongoing. That means detectives may still be reviewing forensic evidence, interviewing witnesses, gathering video from nearby homes or businesses and preparing records for prosecutors. The public reports do not name an attorney for Devin Jenkins, and no statement from him has been released. As in all criminal cases, he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office would decide how to proceed as the case moves beyond the first court appearance and into later hearings.

For now, the known timeline begins with an argument late April 4, runs through a 911 response at 11:34 p.m. and ends with Kevin Jenkins’ death at 12:11 a.m. April 5. Devin Jenkins remains identified in public reports as the only person charged, and investigators have not disclosed the motive.

Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.