Atkins acquitted – A Los Angeles jury convicted Gene Evin Atkins of dozens of assault, attempted-murder and hostage-taking counts tied to a 2018 cross-city rampage that ended in a Trader Joe’s standoff. But the jury acquitted him of first-degree murder and deadlocked on a second
When jurors returned their verdicts Tuesday, the courtroom felt divided in a way that went beyond the law. The same 2018 siege that ended with a Trader Joe’s manager dead also produced a split decision: Gene Evin Atkins was found guilty on dozens of counts tied to the assault and hostage-taking. But he was acquitted of murder because the jury concluded he wasn’t responsible for the LAPD shots that killed Melyda “Mely” Corado.
Atkins faced more than 50 counts of assault. shooting at police. attempted murder and false imprisonment of hostages tied to a wild crime rampage that began with him shooting his own grandmother in South L.A. and ended in a gun battle with police in Silver Lake. By the time the case reached the jury. the details were already fixed in the public record: the shots fired during the chase and standoff. the crowded store. and the three-hour hold on shoppers and employees.
The jury convicted Atkins on dozens of lesser counts Tuesday afternoon. but acquitted him of first-degree murder. according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Jurors also deadlocked on a second-degree murder charge related to Corado’s death. The spokesperson said the deadlock left that charge unresolved.
The murder counts mattered most because of what the prosecution had to prove: Atkins was charged with murder under a “provocative act” theory. That theory holds that a defendant who creates the circumstances leading to a killing can be legally responsible for the death. even if he didn’t fire the bullet that struck the victim. Here. the key point in the jury’s decision was whether Atkins was responsible for the particular volley of LAPD bullets that killed Corado.
The events began with Atkins fleeing officers after kidnapping his girlfriend. leading police on a chase that stretched from South L.A. to Silver Lake. While authorities said he was in his grandmother’s car. Atkins allegedly shot at officers. ran red lights and collided with multiple vehicles. The driving ended when he crashed outside the Trader Joe’s on Hyperion Avenue. and then—again—fired at police as he ran inside a store that was crowded with Saturday afternoon shoppers.
Officers returned fire. One of the officer’s bullets struck Corado, 27, as she took cover inside the store, killing her. Atkins was wounded in the arm. Even after that, he held shoppers and employees hostage inside the Trader Joe’s for three hours before surrendering.
The courtroom process unfolded with a sense of relentless focus on what police did at the moment of death. Atkins’ trial began May 11 and ran for 19 days of witness testimony and presentation of evidence that was almost entirely put on by the prosecution. The jury reached its verdict after nearly five days of deliberation.
The legal split has landed on top of a wider. longer-running dispute inside Los Angeles about what officers did in the seconds that followed Atkins’ arrival at the store. After the incident, a subsequent internal investigation found that the officers who shot at Atkins acted within policy. The two officers later were cleared of criminal wrongdoing. Department officials have never identified which officer they believe fired the shot that killed Corado.
Later reviews have described how close the scene was to other lives. An LAPD review of the incident found that one round struck Atkins in the elbow. Another may have wounded another bystander, who is suing the city.
Corado’s death also became a central symbol for the movement against police brutality in the years that followed. Her name is tied to harsh criticism leveled at LAPD leadership after the shooting. Then-chief Michel Moore described the incident as “every officer’s worst nightmare.” Corado’s 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.
That lawsuit ended in a settlement in 2024 for $9.5 million.
The verdict Tuesday leaves the case with a clear division between accountability for the siege itself and accountability for the fatal moment inside the store. Atkins will carry convictions for assault. attempted murder. hostage-taking and related counts stemming from the 2018 rampage—but the jury’s finding that he was not responsible for the bullet that killed Corado means the murder charge cannot stand as written in first-degree form. and it remains unresolved at second-degree level after the jury deadlocked.
Gene Evin Atkins Trader Joe's siege LAPD Melyda Corado police brutality hostage taking murder acquittal Los Angeles County district attorney