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Overbrook man found not guilty in fatal stabbing at Philadelphia International Airport

Kevin Emanuel, 36, was acquitted on all counts after he testified at trial that he had acted in self-defense.

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An Overbrook man who said he had acted in self-defense when he fatally stabbed a coworker last year at Philadelphia International Airport has been found not guilty of third-degree murder.

Kevin Emanuel, 36, was acquitted on all counts after a three-day trial last week, said his lawyer, Zak T. Goldstein.

Emanuel, who at the time of the stabbing on May 3, 2018, worked for Worldwide Flight Services cleaning planes for Frontier Airlines, was accused of piercing the femoral artery of coworker Aaron Jenkins, 28, of Olney, during an altercation in a break room at Terminal E.

Police said last year that Emanuel had attacked Jenkins with his keys after Jenkins had broken up a scuffle between Emanuel and another colleague over use of the break room lights.

But Goldstein said in an interview Tuesday that witnesses at trial gave a different version of events. According to Goldstein, testimony showed that Emanuel had helped to break up the scuffle over the lights, and that a few minutes later Jenkins — who also had been involved in that scuffle — threatened Emanuel, knocked him to the ground, and stood over him as if he intended to hit him again.

Goldstein said that Emanuel then pulled out a “small pocket knife” and stabbed Jenkins in the leg, unintentionally killing him. Although Emanuel initially told police that he had stabbed Jenkins with his keys, Goldstein said, he later admitted that he used the knife, which was found after Emanuel’s arrest. Goldstein said Emanuel testified that it was not unusual to have the knife on the job.

Jurors last Thursday cleared Emanuel of the murder charge and of possessing an instrument of crime, according to court records. He had spent about 10 months in jail and four months on house arrest awaiting trial.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office, said the office respected but disagreed with the jury’s decision, adding that “homicide cases involving self-defense are among the most challenging to prosecute.”