New jury gets shot at verdict in Trader Joe’s police shooting

A second jury began deliberating the fate of Gene Atkins, already convicted of attempted murder for shooting his teenage girlfriend and grandmother in 2018, on a second-degree murder charge tied to the death of Trader Joe's employee Melyda Corado. Corado was killed by a stray police bullet after Atkins crashed his car and ran into the store during a shootout with officers who were pursuing him.

Prosecutors argue Atkins bears responsibility under an implied malice theory, saying it was foreseeable that firing at police in a crowded store would get someone killed. The defense, which called no witnesses and rested entirely on its closing argument, contends the officer who fired the fatal shot made a mistake that wasn't reasonably foreseeable, noting only two of five officers present fired their weapons.

A first jury convicted Atkins on dozens of charges but deadlocked 10-2 on the second-degree murder count; prosecutors retried him at the request of Corado's father. The city has already paid the Corado family $9.5 million to settle a wrongful death claim, while prosecutors concluded the officers who fired acted lawfully in self-defense.

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