Gene Atkins to Face Second Murder Trial Over 2018 Trader Joe's Shooting in Silver Lake

Prosecutors will retry Gene Atkins for the murder of Melyda Corado, killed in the 2018 Trader Joe's siege. A jury deadlocked on that charge despite convicting him on 30+ counts.

Second murder trial set for Gene Atkins in 2018 Trader Joe's siege

Prosecutors in Los Angeles will retry Gene Evin Atkins for second-degree murder in connection with the 2018 rampage that ended in a deadly police shootout outside a Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, Courthouse News Service reports. The announcement came Friday, following a brief hearing before Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench.

Earlier this month, a jury convicted Atkins on two counts of attempted murder — for shooting his grandmother and his 17-year-old girlfriend — along with more than 30 additional counts related to a high-speed police chase and a hostage standoff inside the supermarket. The jury, however, deadlocked on the most serious charge: the murder of Melyda Corado, a 27-year-old assistant manager who died when police returned fire at Atkins.

Corado was struck by a stray bullet fired by officers as Atkins fled his crashed car and forced his way into the store, using customers and employees as human shields. Prosecutors argued that her death was the "natural and probable consequence" of Atkins' actions. Ten of twelve jurors agreed, but two did not — triggering a mistrial on that single count.

Despite Atkins already facing what amounts to a near-certain life sentence on the attempted murder convictions, Deputy District Attorney Ben Schwartz said the office would proceed with the retrial.

"The victims, particularly the father of Melyda, requested that we retry it," Schwartz said after Friday's hearing. "I think he wants some kind of closure. That's one of the main reasons."

The retrial is scheduled to begin Aug. 3. Schwartz told the judge it would be substantially shorter than the first proceeding, dropping witnesses who testified about the car chase and the extended standoff. Those phases of the original trial added considerable length to an already complex case.

Atkins was rarely present during his first trial, frequently refusing to leave his downtown Los Angeles jail cell. He did appear in court Friday, and Judge Lench addressed him directly.

"Mr. Atkins, are you going to come to trial this time?" Lench asked.

"I'm not sure," Atkins replied after a pause.

"It would really be in your benefit to come, but it's up to you," Lench said. "I don't think it's going to impress the jury to have an empty chair."

Atkins had originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, declaring in 2019 that "I was sent here by Jesus" and "I'm a prophet sent to correct the wrong." He subsequently withdrew that claim. In 2021, he was found mentally competent to stand trial. He represented himself through much of the pretrial phase before eventually accepting defense attorney Errol Cook.

Cook offered no opening statement and called no witnesses during the two-week trial. In closing arguments, he conceded that his client was likely guilty of some or most of the charges but maintained Atkins bore no responsibility for Corado's death.

"To transfer blame, something is unfair about that," Cook said. "Criminal conduct should not cause extreme reckless behaviors by law enforcement."

Schwartz said he intends to call Leah Williams again in the retrial — Atkins' former girlfriend, whom he shot immediately after shooting his grandmother, the woman who had raised him since age 7.

"Prior to shooting me, he was saying a lot of wacky things," Williams testified during the first trial. "Like, crazy things. He said, 'If I can't have you, no one can.' He was 'tired of chasing me.'"

"He said 'you left me here with these people.' I don't know what that means at all," she added.

Cook, in his own closing, pointed to those statements as evidence of a fractured mental state. "Something is scrambled in that brain," he argued. "Something snapped."

Schwartz rejected that framing in his closing argument. "These were not the decisions of a madman," he told the jury.

Source: Courthouse News Service