Three adults and one unborn child were killed in Georgia last week when a man murdered his wife, pregnant girlfriend, and himself.
Kevin Andrew Akins, 37, went to his estranged wife’s apartment on Murray Avenue in Dalton, Tennessee, early on May 21. Dalton is a small city about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. He shot and killed Rebeca Nicole Akins, 35, according to a press release from the Dalton Police Department.
Surveillance footage captured the assailant leaving around 6 a.m.
However, the woman’s body was not discovered until more than two days later, when coworkers noticed she hadn’t called in or shown up for work and requested that police conduct a welfare check.
“After being unable to get anyone to come to the door, officers were let into the residence by apartment staff and discovered the woman’s body with an apparent gunshot wound to the head,” police said in a release. “Detectives were immediately notified and an investigation started.”
In a GoFundMe post, the first victim’s younger sister stated that she “was tragically taken away from us by the man she had loved for over half of her life.”
Investigators determined that Kevin Akins then went to another apartment on Shadow Lane, about 4 miles away.
The killer’s girlfriend, Cindel Mae Rhoden, 33, lived in the second apartment. According to a GoFundMe page, the mother of two girls is five months pregnant with a baby boy.
According to police, Kevin Akins shot and killed Rhoden before committing suicide.
The discovery was made even grimmer by a slightly delayed order of official permissions — on May 24, while police were waiting for a search warrant to enter Rhoden’s apartment, a man walked in using a key.
As it turned out, that man was Rhoden’s father. He quickly exited the unit and called 911 to report finding his daughter and another man shot dead.
“Cindel was more than just a victim of this tragedy she was kind, full of life, and a devoted mom doing her best for her girls,” according to the second fundraiser. “Her daughters are now under the care of family, but they require assistance. We are raising funds to cover their basic needs, funeral expenses, and a more stable future as they cope with this unthinkable loss.”
The first victim’s family recounted everyday events to convey a more mundane but dire aspect of their current predicament.
Nicole Akins’ sister wrote, “Because she had been with that man for 20 years, all of her finances were tied to him.” “She was on his life insurance policy, and given the circumstances of their deaths, we’re not sure if it will cover her funeral expenses. We want to give her the service she deserves, honoring her kindness, happiness, and unwavering love.”
