DENVER – A Thornton man who killed his girlfriend in November 2018 after an argument and then drove her body to Wyoming, where he confessed to her murder, was sentenced Wednesday to 34 years in prison.
Jonathan E. Akin, 24, pleaded guilty to killing 21-year-old Autumn Rivera in January. The two were out with friends at a nightclub on Nov. 24, 2018 to celebrate Rivera’s 21st birthday, which happened the week beforehand.
As they were headed home, Rivera texted her sister saying she and Akin had been fighting. She was killed sometime early the next morning – stabbed nine times in the torso. Evidence showed Rivera fought for her life as she was stabbed, prosecutors said.
Akin tried to clean up the blood and drove to his mother’s house in Wyoming later that day with Rivera’s body in the trunk. While in Wyoming, he told his mother what happened and then drove to the police station to turn himself in and show officers the body inside his vehicle.
He was arrested an extradited back to Colorado, where he eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Jan. 22.
“There’s no replacing the life that was lost,” said Adams County District Court Judge Priscilla Loew, who sentenced Akin. “She suffered a horrific death.”
