Canton man in court Monday in wife’s beating death

A man who fled to Mexico after allegedly beating his wife to death is expected to make a first appearance Monday afternoon in Cherokee Magistrate Court, Canton police spokeswoman Stacy Bailey said Sunday morning.

Rodney Burton, 41, is being charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the death of his wife, Kimberly Burton, police said.

Canton Police Department

Rodney Burton

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Burton fled to Mexico after his wife’s killing and spent the last two months in Cancun and Cozumel before turning himself in to authorities Saturday, police said.

The husband turned himself at 1 p.m. EDT in Cancun with the assistance of his attorney, Thomas Ford of Atlanta, police said. The suspect was taken into custody by federal marshals working with U.S. customs agents and Mexican authorities and put on a plane back to Atlanta.

He arrived about 4:30 p.m. at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, was turned over to Canton police and Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies and was taken to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center in Canton. He remained there Saturday night pending a court hearing.

Bailey said the hearing will occur sometime after 4 p.m. Monday.

Kimberly Burton’s body was found Jan. 19 in the couple’s home in the Rivergreen subdivision, police said. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation autopsy showed she died of “blunt force trauma” to the head.

Kimberly Burton, 39, was an optician who helped establish Eyes on You Care, a clinic in Canton.

Police identified Rodney Burton as someone they wanted to talk to at the time, but he disappeared with his wife’s 2007 Nissan Maxima.

Authorities said Saturday that the husband had gone to Hartsfield-Jackson and boarded a flight to Cancun. He has been in Cancun and Cozumel since Jan. 19, police said.