In the spring of 2012, a confrontation in a Phoenix, Arizona, Taco Bell drive-through tragically ended the life of 29-year-old Daniel Arthur Adkins Jr. On the evening of April 3rd, Adkins was walking his dog through the restaurant's parking lot near 51st Avenue and Baseline Road. As Cordell Lamar Jude was exiting the drive-through, he had to brake suddenly to avoid hitting Adkins, who had stepped in front of his vehicle.
The near-miss ignited a heated verbal exchange between the two men.
Adkins, who was upset, reportedly struck Jude's car. In response, Jude, who had a pistol in his lap, fired at Adkins, killing him at the scene. Jude's girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, then called 9-1-1, and the couple waited for police to arrive in a nearby area. Jude, a 22-year-old African-American man, claimed he acted in self-defense, stating he believed Adkins had hit his car with a bat or a pipe, though no such object was ever found by investigators. A witness in the car behind Jude reported seeing Adkins swing at the vehicle but did not see anything in his hand.
Initially, Jude was not arrested, which sparked controversy and calls for justice from Adkins' family and supporters. However, after a thorough investigation, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office decided to press charges. In July 2012, a grand jury indicted Cordell Lamar Jude on one count of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Daniel Adkins. Jude's self-defense claim was a central point of the legal proceedings. He told police he felt he was in danger but not that his life was threatened.
In November 2013, a jury reached a verdict in the case. Cordell Jude was found not guilty of second-degree murder but was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The jury concluded that while Jude's actions were not justified under Arizona's self-defense laws, they did not meet the standard for murder. For recklessly causing the death of Daniel Adkins, Jude faced a prison sentence ranging from seven to 21 years.
