Inset: Melyda “Mely” Corado (Facebook). Background: KTLA news footage shows Gene Atkins being arrested after a shootout with police at a Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles, Calif.
A California man could spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him responsible for the death of an innocent bystander during a chaotic 2018 police standoff.
Gene Evin Atkins, 36, was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder in connection with the deadly confrontation at a Trader Joe’s in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement that Atkins’ “deadly and reckless actions” caused the death of Melyda “Mely” Corado, a 27-year-old store manager who was fatally shot by a police officer during the standoff.
The murder verdict came after jurors in an earlier trial in June convicted Atkins of dozens of other felonies tied to the same incident but were unable to reach a unanimous decision on the murder charge.
In that June trial, Atkins was found guilty of 40 counts, including three counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and 24 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage. Jurors also convicted him of two counts each of attempted carjacking and mayhem, along with one count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s vehicle, and driving or taking a vehicle without consent.
Atkins is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 24.
The case stemmed from a violent sequence in which Atkins ran into a Trader Joe’s with a gun after shooting his grandmother and teenage girlfriend, ultimately leading to the fatal police shooting of the store manager.
