On August 6, 2023, 23-year-old Rhasaan Marquese Johnson was found inside an apartment at the Lake Wales Housing Authority Grove Manor complex in Lake Wales, Florida, suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers who responded to a medical call around 8 p.m. transported Johnson to Advent Health Lake Wales, where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives identified Kendrick J. Akins, who knew Johnson and was also from Lake Wales, as a suspect in Johnson’s shooting. Later that night, after receiving a tip that Akins was walking near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Sessoms Avenue, detectives heard gunfire and found Akins on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. Akins died from those injuries; police described the second shooting as appearing retaliatory while the motive for Johnson’s killing remained unknown.

The Lake Wales Police Department is seeking information about the shooting that killed Akins and has offered a $5,000 reward for details leading to an arrest. If anyone has information about either shooting, contact the Lake Wales Police Department or Crime Stoppers.