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Kendrick Marquette Akins of Texas had just proposed to his fiancée, Dominic Jefferson, but an argument allegedly ended with him shooting her to death, her family said.
Akins, 39, asked Jefferson to marry him on New Year’s Eve after the couple dated for three months, her family told KTRK in an interview. But on Saturday, they had an argument outside of a Houston apartment and family members say it turned deadly.
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During the argument, according to a police affidavit, Jefferson yelled ‘shoot me’ and shortly afterward, the mother of three was fatally shot in the chest.
A witness told Houston police officers that Akins appeared to leave the scene but came back when a “concerned citizen” attempted to help the victim. Akins fired a shot at the citizen and then fled, the witness told police.
“Akins surrendered to officers at the HPD Northeast Police Station. He was questioned by detectives and subsequently charged in the shooting,” according to CNN, which quotes Houston police.
Akins, who was on parole, is being held on a $250,000 bond and has expressed concern for his safety while locked up. Through his public defender, Te’iva Johnson Bell, Akins is asking to be put into protective custody because of threats he says he is receiving on Facebook. Akins’ lawyer said relatives of Jefferson are inmates at the same Harris County jail and reportedly got word to him that “they were going to get him as soon as he hits the floor,” reported ABC.
Four days prior to her death, the couple was seen in a Facebook Live post getting engaged. Jefferson’s mom told ABC that she watched it. “I thought she had finally found the man of her dreams,” she said. “It was the nightmare of her life.”
UT Quan, a friend of Jefferson, said he was concerned at how quickly things were going since they had only dated for several months. “I thought it was fast,” Quan told ABC. “I said, if they’re happy, I’m happy, but when the altercation happened, I was thrown off. I was like, how could you do that? You just proposed.”
Court records show Akins, who worked in construction, has a lengthy criminal history. Jefferson’s mom said neither she nor her daughter was aware of his past.
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“This needs to wake women up to do their research on who they’re letting into their lives,” she told ABC.
And, she added that she hopes he doesn’t get protective custody while locked up. “He doesn’t deserve protected custody. He doesn’t deserve to live. That’s how I feel about it, with no filter.”