A details breakdown of how a Ghanaian professor, Dr. Kofi Akamani was killed by his wife

What happened?

A 48-year-old Ghanaian lecturer in America, Dr. Kofi Akamani, was shot dead. It happened on Saturday, September 19, around 5 p.m.

Police say he was shot multiple times while sitting in his car in the driveway of a house off Lake Road, between Murphysboro and Carbondale in Jackson County, Illinois.

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Deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office went to the scene after a report of a shooting. They found him injured. He was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, where doctors pronounced him dead from his injuries.

Who was he?

• Full name: Dr. Kofi Akamani, 48 years old.
• From Ghana, but living and working in the US.
• He was a Professor in the Department of Forestry at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale. He taught forest recreation and conservation social science.
• He had been at SIU since 2011 and became a full professor in 2024. He was also director of the Agricultural Sciences doctoral programme and director of graduate studies in forestry.
• His education: He started at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, where he got a BSc in Development Planning in 2003. Then he got an MPhil from University of Oslo in Norway in 2006, and a PhD in Natural Resources from University of Idaho in the US in 2011.
• His work focused on forests, water, climate change, and how rural communities survive environmental problems. In June 2026, he was elected secretary general of the International Union of Biological Sciences.
• SIU has confirmed his death and sent condolences to his family and students.

Who has been arrested?

His 35-year-old wife, Betty Akamani. 8842

Police arrested her after the initial investigation. She is facing multiple charges:

• Two counts of first-degree murder
• And also a charge of endangering the life or health of a child

She appeared in court on Monday and was denied release. She will remain in Jackson County Jail. Her next court date is a preliminary hearing on October 6.

Important: These are accusations, not a conviction. She is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.

What else do we know?

• Court records cited by local media say the couple had been separated for about two years and were in the process of divorcing.
• The police say the investigation is still in its early stages. They have not publicly said what the motive was.
• Other groups helping with the investigation are the Jackson County Ambulance Service, the Coroner’s Office, and the State’s Attorney’s Office.

In short: A respected Ghanaian professor in Illinois was killed in a shooting on Saturday evening, and his estranged wife has been arrested and charged with murder. Police are still investigating why it happened.