A tragic double murder-suicide has left two families mourning in Georgia after Kevin Akins, 37, shot and killed his wife and pregnant girlfriend before turning the gun on himself. The Dalton Police Department confirmed the sequence of events in a statement released earlier this week.
According to reports citing the police, Akins first killed his wife, Rebeca Akins. The 35-year-old was killed inside her apartment on May 21. The couple had been together for 20 years, as shared by Rebeca’s family on a GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral expenses.
When Rebeca did not show up for work for three days, her concerned colleagues alerted the authorities. Officers arrived at her home on May 23 and, with the help of apartment staff, entered her unit. Police found Rebeca’s lifeless body with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Shortly after, investigators watched her husband’s suspicious activity on the surveillance footage. The video showed Kevin leaving the property early in the morning, two days before Rebeca’s body was found. This footage helped police track his vehicle to another apartment complex.
The following day, on May 24, the body of Akins’ pregnant girlfriend, 33-year-old Cindy Rhoden, was found by her father. The discovery was made moments before police arrived after tracing Akins’ car to the home. According to reports, officers arrived at the house to find Rhoden’s father leaving the house to alert them of two bodies inside, one being his daughter and the other being Akins.
He told police that he had gone to her home because he was concerned after not hearing from her for several days. He quickly left and called 911 to report the deaths of his daughter and Akins. Akins reportedly shot his wife, then eliminated Rhoden before taking his own life.
Reports say that the boy baby Rhoden was carrying would have been her third child. She has two other children, and it is speculated that the unborn baby is the only one Akins fathered. Rhoden’s family described her as a single mother who worked hard and was devoted to her children.
She recently learnt she was expecting her third child, per reports. Her distraught family condemned Akins’ “senseless act of violence” and lamented the fact that Akins “took the coward’s way out” by ending his own life. The incident is still under investigation.