DALTON, Ga. — Multiple families in Georgia are grieving after a man allegedly committed a double murder-suicide, killing both his wife and his pregnant girlfriend.
According to authorities, Kevin Akins, 37, fatally shot his wife, Rebeca Akins, 35, at her Dalton apartment on Wednesday. He then drove to the home of his girlfriend, Cindel Rhoden, 33, where he shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself.
Rhoden, who was five months pregnant with a baby boy she had planned to name Noah Elliot, leaves behind two young daughters. Her aunt, Lynn Barker, said Rhoden’s father discovered her body on Saturday after she stopped answering calls.
“She was a victim of manipulation,” Barker said. “She took people at their word. That was her mistake. But it doesn’t mean she deserved this.”
Barker described Rhoden as a hardworking single mother who was trying to build a better life for her children. The family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover burial expenses and to support Rhoden’s daughters, now left without their mother.
“There’s a lot of lives that are devastated and broken,” Barker added. “Nobody asked for this. Why it happened, we don’t know.”
The investigation by Dalton police remains ongoing.
