Gene Evin Atkins also held 24 people hostage at the Los Angeles Trader Joe’s during a standoff with police

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A 36-year-old man whose exchange of gunfire with Los Angeles police eight years ago caused the death of a Trader Joe’s manager has been convicted.

Gene Evin Atkins was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 27-year-old Melyda Corado during a shootout with police in 2018, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.

The jury deliberated for less than a day before the guilty verdict was handed down, according to the DA. Atkins was retried after the first jury that heard his case was deadlocked regarding his second-degree murder charge, the attorney’s office said.

Atkin was convicted eight years after the July 21, 2018 incident. Per prosecutors, he got into an argument with his grandmother before opening fire, “striking her and his girlfriend.” He then fled in a vehicle and led police on a pursuit.

The pursuit led Atkins to a Trader Joe’s store in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood. He got into a collision and hit a utility pole near the store before running into it and firing a weapon at police. As he traded fire with police, Corado was fatally shot.

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The DA’s office said the standoff between Atkins and police “lasted more than three hours” and the 36-year-old “held more than two dozen shoppers hostage” before he was finally arrested.

“This defendant tried to kill two innocent people, engaged in a gun battle with police and held dozens of terrified people hostage, all of which led to the tragic death of Melyda Corado,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement.

“Melyda would still be alive if not for the defendant’s deadly and reckless actions,” he added.

Atkins was also convicted in June of multiple offenses related to the incident including three counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, 24 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage and one count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, among several others.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 24. The LACDAO said Atkins faces life in prison.

As for Corado’s family, they received a $9.5 million settlement after filing a civil suit against the city of Los Angeles and two LAPD officers involved in the incident, according to KTLA. Prosecutors later determined that officers involved in the incident did act lawfully to defend themselves and others, per the outlet.