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Chattanooga man indicted in girlfriend’s killing

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Lawrence Goodine is seen during his preliminary hearing in March in Chattanooga. He had his case bound over to a grand jury. Goodine was indicted last week by a Hamilton County grand jury on charges including first-degree murder.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Lawrence Goodine is seen during his preliminary hearing in March in Chattanooga. He had his case bound over to a grand jury. Goodine was indicted last week by a Hamilton County grand jury on charges including first-degree murder. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Lawrence Goodine is seen during his preliminary hearing in March in Chattanooga. He had his case bound over to a grand jury. Goodine was indicted last week by a Hamilton County grand jury on charges including first-degree murder.

By Sofia Saric 3 min read

A man accused of strangling his girlfriend was indicted last week on a first-degree murder charge by a Hamilton County grand jury.

Lawrence Goodine, 43, a former Chattanooga police officer, is also charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence and violation of a no-contact order, the July 3 indictment shows.

Goodine allegedly killed Kara Akins, 48, on Nov. 28. A Hamilton County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by manual strangulation and blunt force head injury.

Akins and Goodine were under no-contact orders for each other at the time after they were both arrested in connection with a domestic violence incident.

At a March hearing, prosecutors described Akins’ body as extremely battered.