37-Year-Old Man Kills Wife and Pregnant Girlfriend Before Taking His Own Life
A tragic murder-suicide in Dalton, Georgia has left a community in shock and two families in mourning after a man fatally shot his estranged wife and his pregnant girlfriend before turning the gun on himself. As the heartbreak ripples through those left behind, the families of the two women are now seeking public support through GoFundMe campaigns to cover funeral costs and provide care for the surviving children.
The devastating chain of events began on Friday, May 23, when police were dispatched for a welfare check at the Murray Avenue home of 35-year-old Rebeca Nicole Akins. Concerned co-workers had reported her missing after she failed to show up for work for several days. Upon entering the residence, officers found Rebeca dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Surveillance footage from two days earlier revealed her estranged husband, 37-year-old Kevin Andrew Akins, leaving her apartment.
Authorities quickly expanded their search and tracked Kevin’s vehicle to another apartment complex on Shadow Lane. The following morning, as they prepared to execute a search warrant, a man—identified as the father of 33-year-old Cindel Mae Rhoden—arrived to check on his daughter. When he unlocked the door, he made a chilling discovery: Cindel and Kevin were both dead inside the unit.
Investigators determined that Kevin had killed Cindel, who was five months pregnant with his child, before taking his own life. The timeline of events indicated that the violence began with Rebeca’s murder on Wednesday, May 21. Kevin then traveled to Cindel’s apartment, where he committed the second killing and suicide shortly thereafter.
The brutality of the back-to-back murders has stunned the small Dalton community. Police say Kevin had maintained simultaneous relationships with both women. He and Rebeca were still legally married, though estranged. Meanwhile, his involvement with Cindel, described by her family as increasingly controlling and manipulative, had grown more serious in recent months. Just weeks before her death, Cindel shared a sonogram image on social media, proudly announcing that her baby boy was due in September 2025.
In the wake of the tragedy, Rebeca’s sister, Emily Landen, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for funeral expenses. In her post, Emily wrote with heart-wrenching honesty: “On May 23rd we received the worst news we could possibly imagine. My older sister Nicole was tragically taken from us by the man she had loved for over half her life.” She went on to explain that Rebeca and Kevin had been together for 20 years, and that their finances were tightly intertwined, leaving the family struggling to manage the sudden costs.
Similarly, Cindel’s family has begun organizing efforts to cover burial expenses and make arrangements for the unborn child who was also lost in the tragedy. They remember her as a vibrant, loving woman excited about motherhood and hopeful about her future, unaware of the darkness quietly growing behind the scenes.
As more details continue to emerge, the Dalton community remains in mourning. Local leaders and neighbors have expressed their sorrow and called for increased support for domestic violence prevention and mental health resources. Though Kevin Akins left no note, the violence he unleashed has left a painful void in the lives of those who knew and loved Rebeca and Cindel.
Their families now cling to the memories of their lost daughters, sisters, and mothers-to-be, while also facing the sobering task of piecing their lives back together in the aftermath. The GoFundMe pages have become a small beacon of hope, gathering donations and messages of love from strangers moved by the heartbreaking story.
This tragedy has left behind not only shattered hearts but also a sobering reminder of the hidden struggles that can lurk behind relationships and the urgent need to support those in vulnerable situations before it’s too late.