2 People Planned Killing Of Beloved Montco Mother, Teacher: DA

CHELTENHAM, PA — The killing of a Montgomery County woman and beloved local teacher in front of her young son earlier in April stemmed from a broken off affair from a year ago, authorities said Wednesday. Two people have been arrested.

Zakkee Steven Alhakim, 33, of Philadelphia, and Julie Jean, 34, of Elkins Park both face counts of first degree murder in what Montgomery County District Attorney called a "cold blooded killing of an innocent person." Alhakim had already been in custody since April 11 for a separate murder police said he committed in Philadelphia on April 7.

Previous coverage: More Than $50K Raised For Montco Single Mother Killed In Drive Thru

The victim, Rachel King, was the longtime girlfriend of William Hayes, a man that Jean had an affair with in 2022, investigators said. After Hayes broke the affair off, Jean continued to harass Hayes and King through texts and calls, authorities said. Hayes ultimately obtained a protection from abuse order against Jean that legally forbid all contact.

Alhakim's connection is more murky: he's the cousin of the father of Jean's three children, police said. The two plotted together to kill King over the affair, police said.

Alhakim and Jean may have begun planning King's murder as early as February, as that's when Jean added Alhakim’s phone number to her contacts, police said. The exact nature of their early communications isn't clear, but very soon after Jean saved Alhakim's number, Alhakim took a screenshot on his phone of King's apartment complex on Google maps, according to authorities. In the screenshot, a pin marked King's exact residence, and a red arrow was drawn to show a route straight to her apartment, police said.

On Alhakim’s phone, police also found what they discovered was a photo of Jean's hand holding a phone with a picture of King on it, authorities said. This photo was taken on Feb. 25.

Four minutes later, according to cell phone records, a Alhakim saved a photo motage of King to his phone.

Alhakim stalked King for days leading up to the April 11 killing, police said. They found surveillance footage of Alhakim outside of King's home, monitoring his movements from a Mercury Sable, according to the DA.

The morning of the killing, Alhakim followed King from her home to the Dunkin Donuts in Cheltenham's Melrose Shopping Center, according to authorities. He waited until she was in the drive thru line and then shot and killed her with her young son in the backseat, police said.

Six bullet casings were recovered at the scene. King was dead when police arrived.

Five hours after the killing, Jean texted Alhakim a $5 CashApp payment with a series of emojis that detectives said they interpreted to mean "link up, message me, no phones, that’s it," police said.

Police first interviewed Jean the day after the killing, on April 12. Just 13 minutes before that interview, police said she deleted 787 text messages from her phone.

More than $100,000 has been raised for King's family and her young son through the "Rachel King Memorial Fund."

"(King) was the light in every room, had the sweetest giggle and the warmest hugs," one friend wrote in a widely shared social media post. "She was always glowing. If you knew her, you know the glow."

King, a resident of Elkins Park and graduate of Eastern University, taught at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in Philadelphia, part of the Mastery Charter School District, for more than 10 years. She taught history to 7th and 8th graders.

In a recent teacher spotlight done by the school district, King said that seeing her students grow was the most rewarding part of her job.

"It has been amazing to watch their love for learning about the past and the world around us evolve," King said. "Seeing my students become invested in learning about history makes my heart smile."