Cindel Rhoden.
A chilling tragedy has shaken the community of Dalton, Georgia, after Kevin Akins, 37, fatally shot both his wife and girlfriend before taking his own life in a harrowing double murder-suicide. According to the Dalton Police Department, the victims were his wife, Rebeca Akins, 35, and his girlfriend, Cindel Rhoden, 33—who had recently discovered she was pregnant with a baby boy.
The deadly spree began in the early morning hours of May 21, when Kevin Akins visited Rebeca’s apartment in Dalton, a city located in northwest Georgia near the Tennessee border. After killing Rebeca, Kevin drove to the home of Cindel Rhoden, a single mother of two children, who had been in a relationship with him unbeknownst to his wife. There, he shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself.
According to the police, it was Rhoden’s father who discovered her body after he had grown concerned from not hearing from her for several days. His horrific discovery occurred on May 24, during a police surveillance operation of the apartment complex, as investigators awaited a search warrant for the property. The police noted that Rhoden’s father entered the apartment, quickly exited, and then contacted authorities to report what he had found.
Meanwhile, suspicions about Rebeca Akins’ safety arose when she failed to show up for work for three consecutive days. On the evening of May 23, police conducted a welfare check at her residence. After receiving no response at the door, officers were assisted by apartment staff to gain entry—where they found Rebeca dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Following the discovery of Rebeca’s body, detectives reviewed security footage, which showed Kevin Akins leaving the apartment complex early in the morning on May 21. This prompted authorities to track his vehicle to another apartment complex—the site where Rhoden and Kevin’s bodies were eventually discovered.
Though no motive has been publicly identified, the case has left both families reeling from the loss.
Rhoden’s relatives have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral expenses and to support her two young daughters. “Cindel was senselessly taken from us in an act of brutality,” her family wrote in the campaign description. “She worked tirelessly as a single mother, striving to provide a bright future for her girls.”
The family also expressed their heartbreak over the violence that took her life. “She was killed by a man who took the coward’s way out,” they stated. “Cindel was more than a victim of this horrific event. She was a luminous, kind-hearted individual and a devoted mother fiercely committed to her children’s well-being.”
For anyone experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Services are free, confidential, and available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
