Virginia Man Bert D. Atienza, 77, Dies After Assault Inside Norfolk Walmart in Virginia

 What began as a Sunday grocery trip after church ended with the death of Bert D. Atienza, a 77-year-old Virginia Beach resident who had been married to Josephine Atienza for 42 years. The couple had stopped at a Walmart in Norfolk to buy groceries when an encounter inside the store escalated into an assault that left Bert with fatal injuries. What followed transformed an ordinary outing into a loss that Josephine says has changed everything.

The incident happened Sunday, June 7, at the Walmart at 1170 N. Military Highway. Norfolk Police said officers were called at approximately 3:50 p.m. for a reported assault, and first responders found Bert unresponsive when they arrived. He was rushed to a hospital, but he died from his injuries the following day, June 8, bringing a devastating end to the afternoon and bringing a tragic end to an afternoon that had begun after the couple attended church.

Josephine has described what she says happened before the assault. She said a 17-year-old Walmart employee came down an aisle with a cart and nearly struck her, prompting Bert to confront the employee because, according to Josephine, the teenager had not apologized or said “excuse me.” Josephine said an argument followed, and she alleged the employee threw a can toward the couple as they walked away, although it did not hit them.

The couple continued shopping, but Josephine said the confrontation did not end there. According to her account, the teenage employee contacted her parents, who later arrived at Walmart and confronted Bert. Josephine said Bert was struck in the face and fell to the floor, and she alleged the assault continued while he was down as she pleaded for it to stop. Her account describes Bert still able to speak before he lost consciousness.

Police identified two adults charged in connection with the incident as 42-year-old Erika Mitchell and 44-year-old Travis White, both of Norfolk. They were initially charged with malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony. A 17-year-old girl was also charged with assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony and was taken to the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Center following the charges announced by Norfolk Police.

Court records later showed that Mitchell and White were facing second-degree murder charges in Bert’s death, and both remained jailed without bond. The Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Bert died from blunt head trauma and ruled his manner of death a homicide. Those official findings established the fatal nature of his injuries while the criminal case against the accused defendants continued, with the homicide charges representing a later development in the case.

Bert’s life extended well beyond the events that ended it inside the Norfolk store. He was Filipino-American and was born in Malabon City, Philippines. Reports about the family said Bert had worked as an accountant, while Josephine had previously worked as a bank teller in the Philippines. Their marriage had lasted 42 years, and the couple had plans to eventually retire in the Philippines to be closer to Bert’s family.

Instead of carrying out those plans, Josephine was left grieving after a grocery trip turned into a fatal confrontation. Her account and the official investigation describe a sequence that began with an encounter involving a shopping cart and ended with Bert’s death from blunt head trauma. For a couple who had shared more than four decades of marriage and looked ahead to retirement together, the future they had planned for years in the Philippines was left unfulfilled after the June 7 incident.