Law enforcement says a former police officer residing in Cumberland County was taken into custody Friday for the strangulation death of a woman in a Chattanooga neighborhood.

Officers arrested 43-year-old Lawrence Foster Goodine in Fairfield Glade.

The charges against Goodine include murder, kidnapping, and tampering with or fabricating evidence.

Officers took Goodine to the Hamilton County jail and placed him without bond.

He will make his first court appearance on the charges on December 22, 2023, in Hamilton County court.

Goodine is a former member of the Chattanooga Police Department.

He stands accused of the strangulation death of 48-year-old Kara Akins of Chattanooga. Her body was discovered in the Southside Gardens area of Chattanooga.

The medical examiner’s autopsy report stated that Akins died by strangulation and a blunt-force head injury.

Goodine reportedly claimed Akins went missing after they stopped at a gas station in Chattanooga. He later stated he found Akins, and they went to a residence. The report says Goodine told police they fell asleep. Goodine claims he tried to wake up Akins later, but she would not respond.

A toxicology report indicated Akins had alcohol in her system at the time of her death. She had a blood-alcohol-concentration of 0.254, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Tennessee. Officials say no other drugs were found in her system.

Goodine was fired from the Chattanooga Police Department in 2007. He was dismissed after an internal affairs investigation led to charges of theft, improper search, improper procedure, untruthfulness, and submitting a false report. He was cleared of theft and extortion charges a year later, but the police chief refused to reinstate him. The Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2011 ruled that Goodine’s firing was legal.