Patricia Hall, a 45-year-old mother of four, had lived with her family for about three years in a two-bedroom rowhouse on the 100 block of East Pastorius Street in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. In early 2023, the family fell behind on rent for the property, which they said was falling into disrepair. Their landlord, Stephen Wilkins, refused to make repairs and began a campaign of harassment to illegally evict them.
The conflict escalated over several months as Wilkins shut
off the family’s electricity and water, ripped out the electric meter, and threw a brick through a window. On September 15, 2023, he went a step further, removing every door and window from the home. Fearing she would lose all her possessions, Patricia sent her younger children to stay with a relative. She remained alone inside the shell of the house, armed with a gun to protect what was left of her home.
That night, a masked man named Felipe Eskew slipped through an open door. Prosecutors later said that Wilkins had sent Eskew to the house to terrorize Hall into leaving. As she lay on her couch, Hall encountered the intruder. The two exchanged gunfire, and both were shot and killed. On the morning of September 16, police responded to the residence and found Hall unresponsive on the living room floor, suffering from a gunshot wound. Medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
The investigation into the double homicide led police to Stephen Wilkins. He was arrested on November 2, 2023. For his role in orchestrating the events that led to the deadly confrontation, Wilkins pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and solicitation to commit burglary. In December 2025, Wilkins was sentenced to nine to 18 years in state prison.
