A Los Angeles County jury handed down a murder conviction against a man responsible for a chaotic 2018 LAPD pursuit that ended with police accidentally killing a Trader Joe’s store manager in Silver Lake.The guilty verdict against Gene Atkins was delivered Tuesday in a downtown courtroom. The jury found that although Atkins didn’t fire the bullet that killed Melyda “Mely” Corado, his actions provoked a gun battle with police. One of rounds fired by LAPD officers in the confrontation sailed into the grocery store and killed Corado. A previous trial against Atkins earlier this year ended with jurors acquitting him of first-degree murder and deadlocking on a second-degree murder charge. He was convicted in June of dozens of assault, attempted-murder and hostage-taking charges.The incident that led to the charges began when Atkins shot two people and took one of them hostage. As he fled, Atkins shot at officers while running red lights and colliding with multiple vehicles. He ended up outside the Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake, where Corado, 27, was an assistant manager. While the store was crowded with Saturday afternoon shoppers, police exchanged fire with Atkins and wounded him. Corado was hiding inside the store when she was fatally struck by the police bullet. A pending lawsuit alleges police bullet fragments also hit a woman sitting nearby in her car; the city has denied responsibility in court filings.The jury that returned the verdict Tuesday concluded that Atkins, 36, used and fired his gun during the chase. In his closing statements Monday, Los Angeles Deputy Distt. Atty. Ben Schwartz argued that if wasn’t for Atkins’ actions, Corado would still be alive, according to City News Service.The prosecutor said police officers near the Trader Joe’s saw Atkins get out of his grandmother’s blue Toyota Camry and immediately open fire after crashing the vehicle near the store. “It doesn’t get any more dangerous than that,” Schwartz said. A prosecution expert concluded that Atkins had fired first at the officers, Schwartz added.Defense attorney Errol Cook urged jurors to acquit his client of murder. He acknowledged that Corado’s death was “an enormous tragedy,” but argued that while his client had committed other crimes and “terrified people,” he was not responsible for killing her.“He did not kill Ms. Corado,” Cook said, telling jurors to set their anger aside and not to “transfer the blame.”Atkins did not appear in court for any of his retrial.During one of his initial court appearances in 2018, Atkins told a judge that he had been diagnosed with “bipolar disorder and a list of other disorders as well.”He was found mentally competent to stand trial in 2021.Corado’s death was one of several in a string of bystander shootings by LAPD officers. A Times analysis of a decade’s worth of police shooting data found 21 cases in which officers accidentally hit fellow cops or bystanders, including three deaths. In more than 100 times, police fired rounds in crowded areas, or struck occupied buildings or vehicles.Atkins was charged with murder under a “provocative act” theory, meaning he created the circumstances that led to Corado’s death and was therefore legally responsible.An internal LAPD investigation found that the officers who shot at Atkins acted within policy. The two officers were later cleared of criminal wrongdoing. Department officials have never identified which officer they believe fired the shot that killed Corado.The LAPD came under harsh criticism for shooting a bystander, with some activists calling Corado’s death a galvanizing moment in the local movement for police accountability. Her father and brother filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers involved in the shooting, alleging that they opened fire recklessly into the crowded store. The case was settled in 2024 for $9.5 million.City News Service contributed to this report.
