Gene Atkins sentenced to 236 years for 2018 Silver Lake rampage and police-related death

Gene Atkins, 36, received a 236-year-to-life prison term after a Superior Court judge found him guilty on 42 counts stemming from his 2018 rampage through Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The incident began with shootings at his grandmother and a 17-year-old girl, Leah Williams, and escalated into a high-speed chase that ended outside a Trader Joe’s, where Atkins fired at police officers. One officer’s stray bullet struck employee Melyda Corado, killing her.

While the defense urged a 15-year-to-life sentence, citing possible hallucinations, prosecutors highlighted Atkins’s violent history and alleged grooming and trafficking of Williams. The judge imposed consecutive sentences of 80, 111 and 45 years, though California law allows parole eligibility after 20 years, meaning Atkins’s first hearing will occur shortly after he turns 50. Victim’s father Albert Corado expressed that no amount of time could restore his loss.