Norfolk, Virginia — A 77-year-old Walmart customer died after he was allegedly attacked inside a store following a dispute with a teenage employee, according to his widow and local reports.
Bert Atienza was shopping with his wife, Josephine, after attending church when a confrontation reportedly began involving a 17-year-old Walmart employee and a shopping cart. What started as an argument over the cart escalated when the employee allegedly contacted her parents, who later arrived at the store.
Atienza was hospitalized after the alleged attack and died the following day from blunt head trauma, according to reports. Medical officials ruled his death a homicide.
Shopping Cart Dispute Quickly Escalated
According to Josephine Atienza, the couple was shopping when the teenage employee moved quickly through the aisle and nearly struck her with a shopping cart.
Bert reportedly confronted the worker about what had happened.
“He said, ‘You almost hit my wife with your heavy cart, and you did not even say excuse me or apologize to her,’” Josephine Atienza told the outlet.
Josephine described her husband as someone who was direct when he believed something was wrong.
“If he sees things that he doesn’t like, he will tell it to you straightforward. That’s how it is. He doesn’t care who you are,” Josephine said.
The argument was reportedly brief. As the couple walked away, Josephine said the teenager threw a can toward them.
The employee then allegedly called her parents.
Teen’s Parents Allegedly Confronted the Couple
According to the reports, Travis White and Erika Mitchell arrived inside the Walmart shortly afterward and began looking for the elderly couple.
Store surveillance video obtained by WTKR reportedly captured what happened next.
Bert was browsing merchandise in an aisle when White and Mitchell allegedly approached him. The footage reportedly showed the elderly man being shoved from behind, grabbed and punched while other shoppers moved through the area.
Atienza was then allegedly pushed into a shelving unit and fell to the floor. One of the suspects allegedly kicked him while he was down.
Josephine said she was terrified as the confrontation unfolded.
“They crowded my husband, one of the adults hit him in the face. He fell down on the floor. I was terrified. I don’t know what’s going on,” Josephine said.
She also said she pleaded with the attackers to stop.
“While he’s on the floor, they’re still kicking him and I told them stop. My husband has heart problems,” Josephine said.
Wife Held Her Husband as He Lost Consciousness
After the alleged attack, Josephine was left on the floor holding her husband.
The 77-year-old was initially able to speak to his wife despite his injuries.
“My husband was still able to speak, he said, ‘Help me, get up,’ but I told him, ‘no you’re bleeding. Your mouth is bleeding. Ambulance is coming,” Atienza’s wife Josephine said.
She then noticed that he was no longer conscious.
“I look at him again. He has no more consciousness.”
Emergency responders took Atienza to a hospital, where he remained under medical care.
He died on June 8, one day after the alleged Walmart attack.
Charges Were Later Upgraded to Murder
White, 44, and Mitchell, 42, were initially arrested and charged with malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to reports.
The charges were later increased to second-degree murder, according to court records.
The couple’s attorney, James Broccoletti, disputed the allegations and argued that his clients were responding emotionally after receiving a call from their daughter.
“They did not go there, intending for any of this to happen. It was an emotional situation. Their daughter called them. She was distraught. They went, as any parent would do, to try to make sure that their daughter was safe and then the situation kind of erupted. It was spontaneous almost,” James Broccoletti told.
The attorney also challenged whether the evidence supported the more serious charges.
“We think that the evidence establishes at best an assault because they punched the gentleman, there is some evidence my client may have kicked him, but that’s simple assault, that’s a misdemeanor. There is nothing that goes further than that, that indicates that there was any chance or likelihood or probability that this man would die as a result of this.”
White and Mitchell remain held without bond at the Norfolk jail as the case proceeds.
Teen Employee Also Faces Charges
The 17-year-old Walmart employee involved in the original dispute no longer works at the store.
She was also charged with assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Because she was a juvenile at the time of the alleged incident, authorities have not publicly released her name. She is being held at the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Center.
What are your thoughts on how this shopping cart dispute escalated into a deadly confrontation? Share your reaction in the comments.
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