By Los Angeles County Politics
Tracking this week’s cases in Los Angeles County Superior Court, May 8–13, 2026.
Trader Joe’s Shooting Trial Finally Begins — Eight Years Later
Gene Evin Atkins is heading to trial this week in one of the most gut-wrenching cases in Los Angeles history — a saga that has wound through mental competency hearings, a pandemic, and more than 50 criminal counts before finally reaching a jury.
According to ABC7, on July 21, 2018, LAPD chased Atkins from South Los Angeles to a Silver Lake Trader Joe’s, where he held up the store for several hours before surrendering to a SWAT team.
Atkins, who was 28 at the time of the incident, is charged with the killing of Melyda Maricela Corado, the store’s 27-year-old assistant manager — even though she was struck by an officer’s bullet, not Atkins’ — under the legal theory that he set off the chain of events that led to her death.
Prosecutors contend Atkins lit the fuse that day: he allegedly shot his 76-year-old grandmother and his 17-year-old girlfriend at their South Los Angeles home before kidnapping the teen, forcing her into his grandmother’s car, and leading police on a wild chase during which he fired at officers.
According to the Associated Press, Atkins has pleaded both not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The DA’s office has determined the two officers whose bullets struck Corado acted lawfully.
The case has been crawling toward this moment for years, waylaid by competency examinations, pandemic delays, and Atkins’ brief stint as his own attorney.
In November 2022, a judge granted a request by Atkins to act as his own attorney — a decision he later reversed.
The DA’s Media Case Calendar shows the case moved from Jury Trial Readiness on May 8 to an active Jury Trial this week at the Criminal Justice Center. Deputy District Attorneys Benjamin Schwartz Ani Hovsepian of the Major Crimes Division are
Noguez Corruption Trial: After 13 Years, a Jury Hears the Case
The long, strange saga of “John Noguez” — born Juan Renaldo Rodriguez — arrived in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom last month, and the jury trial is now in full swing.
According to Courthouse News Service, more than 13 years after he was arrested on bribery charges, the former LA County Assessor is finally getting his day in court.
Deputy District Attorney Bobby Zoumberakis laid out the People’s case in a marathon opening argument, telling the jury that Noguez and his co-defendants had manipulated the property tax collection system to gain political power, secure tax breaks for wealthy developers, and pocket money — schemes that cost taxpayers roughly $12 million.
Between February and September 2010, Noguez allegedly accepted $185,000 from tax consultant Ramin Salari and used his influence to lower the appraised property values for Salari’s clients, helping them save approximately $1.16 million in property taxes. Improper tax breaks were allegedly granted to more than 100 Westside property owners.
The case has survived extraordinary procedural turbulence. According to Courthouse News Service, the case, first filed in 2012, was thrown out on a technicality in 2020 and then refiled. In 2023, Salari cut a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to a $9 million fine and two years probation — but a Superior Court judge rejected the plea deal as far too lenient, and that ruling was upheld on appeal.
According to Courthouse News Service, the trial’s star witness is expected to be Scott Schenter, a former assessor’s office employee who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and will testify that Noguez gave veiled orders such as “take care of my donors.” Noguez’s attorney has said his client is “innocent of all the charges.”
Deputy DA Bobby Zoumberakis of the Public Integrity Division is prosecuting.
Murder Trial Opens in Killing of Rookie Monterey Park Officer
The trial of Carlos Daniel Delcid moved into the People’s Testimony phase this week in Norwalk, bringing back into sharp relief one of LA County’s most heartbreaking law enforcement murders in recent years.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Gardiel Solorio was a 26-year-old Monterey Park Police officer killed in a gym parking lot in Downey while off duty. According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, on August 8, 2022, at approximately 3:20 p.m., Solorio had just arrived at an outdoor parking lot at the Downey Landing Mall when Delcid approached him at gunpoint and demanded his car. Solorio put his car in reverse and attempted to flee, and Delcid allegedly fired five shots into him at close range.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Solorio was a new officer, hired by Monterey Park in January of that year, after graduating from Cal State LA with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
“He was only 26 years old,” Monterey Park Police Chief Kelly Gordon said at the time. “Gardiel was just starting his career in law enforcement and was a rising star who took pride in serving one of our communities when he was tragically murdered.”
A co-defendant, Gerardo Magallanes, who prosecutors said supplied the gun and remained in the getaway car, was convicted and sentenced to 24 years and eight months in state prison in a separate proceeding last year, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Delcid, who faces special circumstance murder charges that could bring life without parole, now faces the jury alone. Deputy DA Geoffrey Lewin, CAPOS (Crimes Against Peace Officers Section), is prosecuting.
City of Industry Solar Scam: Ex-Lawmaker, City Managers Head Toward Trial
The long-running municipal corruption case out of the City of Industry continued pretrial proceedings this week at the Criminal Justice Center, with one defendant’s case — that of Paul Jule Philips — already in the pretrial phase.
According to KTLA, four men are facing felony charges for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from what was supposed to be a solar farm project for the City of Industry: William Barkett, Anthony Bouza, Paul Jule Philips, and Frank Hill.
Philips is the City of Industry’s former city manager and was serving as city manager of Bell at the time charges were filed.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, between 2016 and 2018, the City of Industry entered into a land lease agreement with San Gabriel Valley Water and Power LLC to examine a possible solar farm. Roughly $20 million in public funds was allegedly routed to an account controlled by Barkett, who owned the firm. While some of the money was paid to other vendors, Barkett is accused of spending about $8.3 million on personal items and falsifying invoices to inflate the amounts.
The political backstory adds another layer.
According to the Bond Buyer, Hill is a former Republican state senator who was snared in a federal Capitol corruption investigation three decades ago and spent four years in prison. According to the Pasadena Star-News, Bouza never disclosed to city officials that Barkett owed him $1.5 million.
Dep. DA Ana Maria Lopez from the Public Integrity Division is prosecuting.
Glendale Firefighter Heads Toward Trial in Wife’s Axe Murder
Andrew Jimenez, a Glendale firefighter-paramedic, is back in court this week in a case that stunned the local first responder community when charges that he axe murdered his wife, Mayra Jimenez, in January.
According to KTLA, the investigation unfolded after Jimenez approached officers at an LAPD station around 4 a.m. on January 21 and asked for a welfare check on his wife, saying he had been unable to reach her.
Officers arrived at the family’s North Hollywood home and found her dead, suffering from multiple blunt force trauma wounds.
According to KTLA, Mayra Jimenez was a beloved third-grade teacher at Wilshire Park Elementary School. Students and colleagues held a candlelight vigil in her honor days after her death. Defense attorney Jose Romero said at an early hearing that his client had apparently discovered his wife was cheating on him “moments” before the killing.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, if convicted as charged, Jimenez faces 26 years to life in state prison. DA Nathan Hochman said at the time of charging, “No one, including those sworn to protect others, is above the law.” Jimenez has pleaded not guilty.
Dep. DA Chelsea Blatt of the Family Violence Division is prosecuting.
Also On The Docket
Christopher Carnahan, a veteran LAPD officer, was back in court this week on two felony counts of insurance fraud. According to NBC Los Angeles, Carnahan reported injuring his left elbow while on duty in May 2023 and was placed on Temporary Totally Disabled status — but prosecutors allege he spent that time completing numerous skydives at Skydive Elsinore in Lake Elsinore and working out regularly at a fitness center.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, DA Hochman said: “This is an officer who knows the law and understands the standards he is sworn to uphold.” He faces up to six years if convicted.
David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old R&B singer known professionally as D4vd, saw his preliminary hearing delayed this week as prosecutors process a mountain of evidence in one of the most disturbing cases on the LA County docket.
According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, Burke is charged with the capital murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed and dismembered remains were found in the front trunk of his impounded car in September 2025.
According to Global News, prosecutors allege Burke began a sexual relationship with the victim when she was 13 and killed her when she threatened to reveal their relationship and damage his music career. The preliminary hearing has been pushed to June 29. Burke has pleaded not guilty.
