Lake Wales Police and Polk County Sheriff’s Detectives are investigating two shootings that happened hours apart in the Lake Wales Housing Authority Grove Manor complex
yesterday evening leaving two men dead. The first shooting occurred around 8:00PM at 303 N. First Street Apartment B. In this
incident, officers responded to a medical call and learned a person had been shot. Witnesses told them they entered the apartment and encountered Kendrick J. Akins, who left the area shortly after they entered. The witnesses then found 23 year-old
Rhasaan Marquese Johnson inside the apartment suffering from gunshot wounds.
Johnson was transported to Advent Health Lake Wales where he was pronounced dead. Detectives began searching for Akins as a person of interest in this homicide and at approximately 11:45PM, they received a tip that he was walking near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Sessoms Avenue. As they began searching for him, detectives heard multiple gunshots and ran toward the shooting. There, they found Akins laying on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He died from his injures despite officer’s
attempts to render aid. Akins and Johnson were both from Lake Wales and knew each other. There is no known motive for the first homicide, but the second appears to be retaliatory. There is a $3,000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in the second
homicide. If you have any information regarding either of these shootings, please contact the Lake Wales Police Department at 863-678-4223. Or, if you would like to remain
anonymous and be eligible for a CASH REWARD through Heartland Crime Stoppers, call 1-800-226-TIPS (8477). You can also dial **TIPS on your cell phone or visit the website
www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit a Tip” or download the free
“P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet to submit
