A 77-year-old man died after police say three people assaulted him inside the Walmart store on N. Military Highway.
Officers responded to the store at 1170 N. Around 3:50 p.m. on June 7, Military Highway received a complaint of an assault and arrived to find a 77-year-old male motionless on the scene.
The man was taken to the hospital for treatment for his injuries, but he died the next day.
Police recognized him as Bert D. Atienza, a Virginia Beach resident.
“I’m shocked, but this is not the first time something tragic like this has happened in this area,” a Walmart shopper who preferred to stay anonymous said after hearing what happened.
The inquiry revealed that Atienza became involved in an incident inside the store, which resulted in a physical attack.
Erika Mitchell, 42, and Travis White, 44, both of Norfolk, were charged with mob-related malicious wounding, aggravated malicious wounding, and conspiracy to conduct a felony. They are being held at Norfolk’s City Jail without bond.
A 17-year-old girl faces charges of assault and battery, aggravated intentional wounding, and conspiracy to conduct a felony. She is being housed at the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Center.
According to court documents, the assault was allegedly in response to Atienza’s verbal altercation with the daughter of one of the adult accused.
The daughter works at Walmart, according to court records.
The two adult suspects were not involved in the first argument with the employee. According to court records, they arrived later, and the attack took place.
“The two people responsible for the victim’s death are both being held without bail on the original felony assault charges,” stated Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We expect more charges to come, and our position is that no bail is appropriate to the dangerous nature of the charges.”
Mitchell and White are due to return to court on July 29.
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