Details emerge in woman’s shooting death
After man proposed on New Year’s Eve, they fought over car
A man squabbled with his fiancée about car issues before he fatally shot her in the chest at his northwest Houston apartment complex, days after proposing, according to details released late Saturday in a probable cause hearing.
Kendrick Akins, 39, is accused of shooting and killing his 33-yearold fiancée, identified by family members as Dominic Jefferson, last Friday outside an apartment in the 5500 block of Holley View Drive.
Akins reportedly turned himself in to authorities Saturday, and he has since been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bail was set at $150,000 for the murder charge and $75,000 for the aggravated assault charge.
Akins has since asked a magistrate to be placed in protective custody because he fears retaliation from the victim’s family members, some of whom are in the jail, according to a public defender representing Akins during Saturday’s hearing.
“The (victim) has brothers in jail, and I guess there have been Facebook posts indicating that once he hits the floor, they plan on attacking him,” the public defender said. “He’s just asking the court to take that into consideration.”
Akins proposed to the woman on New Year’s Eve. According to earlier reports in the Houston Chronicle, Jefferson’s sister broadcast the engagement via Facebook Live. The sister has since expressed her confusion publicly.
“He just proposed to her in front of the whole world,” the woman told reporters on the scene. “I want to know why. Why would you do this? You say you loved her.”
Around the time of the shooting, Jefferson was with an unidentified woman outside Akins’ apartment. They intended to take Jefferson’s car to pick up the woman’s boyfriend from work. The car wouldn’t start, and Akins walked outside asking about the problem, prosecutors said. Jefferson reportedly yelled “don’t touch my car,” and an argument ensued.
At one point, Akins reached for his gun. Witnesses heard Jefferson say, “Go ahead, shoot me.” Akins then pointed the pistol at her chest and fired once, prosecutors said.
A man in a neighboring apartment complex said he heard the argument and the fatal shot. He ran outside and hopped a fence to check on the people involved, prosecutors said.
On the scene, the man spoke to a witness before he encountered Akins, who screamed at the man before firing at least one shot in his direction, prosecutors said. The neighbor dove into nearby bushes and played dead, hoping the gunman would flee.
Akins then grabbed his fiancée’s cellphone and ran away, prosecutors said.
Akins has faced two previous felony convictions in Harris County, one in 2008 for aggravated assault and another in 2015 for felon in possession of a weapon.