Opening statements began Monday in the criminal trial of a man charged in a deadly 2018 standoff at a Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake.
The manager of the store was killed in a shootout between police and Gene Atkins, who is accused of shooting and wounding his grandmother and girlfriend before leading police on a chase prior to the store standoff.
Prosecutors wrapped up their opening statements Monday morning and called two witnesses to testify. Defense attorneys opted not to deliver opening statements and did not comment on the case.
Atkins was shot in his arm when he ran from his car, which crashed into a pole, into the store on July 21, 2018 in the community northeast of downtown LA. In opening statements, prosecutors said Atkins fired shots at officers and held people hostage inside the store.
It was a gunshot from an LAPD sidearm that went through the store, striking and killing assistant manager Melyda “Mely” Corado.
Atkins faces more than 40 criminal counts in connection with the standoff and shootings. The charges include murder, attempted murder, four counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearms on a peace officer, and 25 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage — the people inside the store.
Prosecutors alleged it was Atkins’ choices that led to the standoff and Corado’s death.
“The unusual aspect about this case is that the defendant is being charged with murder, even though he’s not the one that fired the shot that killed the innocent victim,” said NBCLA legal analyst Royal Oakes. “Instead, he’s charged with something called felony murder, meaning if you set in motion a series of events by felonious terrible conduct, then if somebody else shoots, you’re charged with murder.”
In 2024, Corado’s family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the city for nearly $10 million. The Los Angeles Police Commission determined the officer who fired the shot did not violate department policy.
In a sworn statement submitted to the court in May 2024, the officer who fired the shot said, “I had no alternative but to fire my weapon at Gene Atkins in order to stop this deadly threat that he, himself, had created. I fired based upon his actions and stopped when I realized he was moving into the Trader Joe’s entrance to avoid striking individuals inside, despite the fact that he was still considered a violent fleeing felon and continued to pose an imminent threat of serious/great bodily injury and/or death while inside Trader Joe’s.”
The officer said shots fired by Atkins struck a nearby pole, forcing officers to take cover behind a concrete wall.
A LAPD officer who responded to the initial shooting call took the stand Monday at the start of testimony. Jurors will hear from additional witnesses in the coming weeks, including some who were at the store.