A man who allegedly shot his fiancee dead in a parking lot just three days after proposing to her on New Year’s Eve has been arrested.

Kendrick Akins, 39, is suspected of killing Dominic Jefferson, 33, outside her apartment building in the city of Houston around midnight on Saturday morning.

Witnesses are reported to have heard the pair arguing prior to Jefferson’s death.

Police said a “concerned citizen”, believing Akins to have left the scene, came to help Jefferson, but that Akins then returned.

Akins is alleged to have then fired another shot in the direction of the citizen before fleeing, ABC13 reported.

Police found Jefferson’s body on the ground next to a car with its front doors open, and Akins was later identified as her fiancé.

Jefferson was reportedly a mother to two boys and one girl.

Akins turned himself in to a local police station late on Saturday morning, and after questioning was arrested and charged with murder.