77-YEAR-OLD FIL-AM WALMART SHOPPER DIES AFTER ALLEGED ATTACK OVER CART DISPUTE

A routine grocery trip turned deadly for a 77-year-old Filipino-American man after a confrontation involving a teenage Walmart employee escalated into an alleged assault inside a store in Norfolk, Virginia.

Bert D. Atienza, a longtime Virginia Beach resident who was born in Malabon City, Philippines, died on June 8, 2026, one day after he was assaulted at a Walmart on North Military Highway. Filipino community reporting identified Atienza as a Filipino-American and said he and his wife, Josephine, had planned to retire in the Philippines.

Norfolk Police said officers responded to the Walmart at around 3:50 p.m. on June 7 after receiving a report of an assault. Responding officers found Atienza unresponsive and transported him to a hospital, where he died the following day.

According to Josephine's account to local media, the incident began when a 17-year-old Walmart employee allegedly moved quickly through an aisle with a shopping cart and nearly struck her. Atienza confronted the teenager, and the two reportedly exchanged words.

Josephine said the employee later allegedly threw a can toward the couple as they walked away, although it did not hit either of them. The teenager then reportedly contacted her parents.

Police identified the parents as 44-year-old Travis White and 42-year-old Erika Mitchell. According to reports describing surveillance footage, the two later approached Atienza inside the store while their daughter was present.

The footage reportedly showed Atienza being shoved and punched before he was pushed into a shelving unit and fell to the floor. One of the suspects allegedly kicked him while he was down.

Josephine later recalled that her husband was still conscious immediately after the assault. She said he asked her to help him get up, but she noticed that he was bleeding and told him to wait for the ambulance.

She said Atienza soon lost consciousness.

The Virginia medical examiner determined that Atienza died from blunt head trauma and ruled his death a homicide.

White and Mitchell were initially charged with malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to Norfolk Police. Later reports said the charges were upgraded to second-degree murder. Both are being held without bond.

The 17-year-old employee also faces charges including assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony. Because she is a minor, authorities have not released her name. She is being held at a juvenile detention facility.

An attorney for White and Mitchell has disputed the murder allegations, saying the parents did not go to the store intending to kill Atienza and arguing that the confrontation was a spontaneous reaction after their daughter contacted them.

The case remains in the court system, and the defendants have not been convicted of the charges against them.