WTKR reported Erika Mitchell and Travis White face second-degree murder charges in Bert Atienza's death.

Second-degree murder is the charge WTKR reported from the September court posture. The June 9 Norfolk police release listed malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding, and conspiracy, which is not that murder count. WTKR put a grand jury date of Oct. 7 on the parents' case, and no account reviewed here reported what that grand jury returned.

Norfolk police said in a release posted June 9, 2026, that on June 7, around 3:50 p.m., officers were called to the Walmart at 1170 N. Military Highway for a reported assault and found an unresponsive 77-year-old man. The release identified him as Bert D. Atienza, of Virginia Beach, and said he was taken to a hospital and died June 8 from his injuries. It said the preliminary investigation found he had been in an altercation with other parties inside the store. It said detectives charged Erika Mitchell, 42, and Travis White, 44, both of Norfolk, with malicious wounding by mob, aggravated malicious wounding, and conspiracy to commit a felony, and that they were held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond. It said a 17-year-old female was charged with assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding, and conspiracy to commit a felony, and that she was held at the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Center. She is not named here. A police charging list is the department's accusation. It is not a verdict.

WTKR, in a Sept. 24, 2026, story by Margaret Kavanagh, said Erika Mitchell, 42, and Travis White, 44, were arrested for second-degree murder, and that the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from blunt head trauma. The same station's Sept. 28 story said the parents face second-degree murder charges and that Atienza died in the hospital the day after the June 7 attack at the Walmart on North Military Highway. Arrested for second-degree murder, in the Sept. 24 story, and the June 9 list of wounding and conspiracy counts are not the same charging language. The Guardian, in a story by Marina Dunbar published Sept. 19, 2026, said Atienza died from blunt head trauma on June 8, one day after the attack, and that police responded at about 3:20 p.m. About 3:20 p.m. and around 3:50 p.m. are not the same time. The Guardian said White, 44, and Mitchell, 42, were arrested days later and held without bond in the Norfolk jail. Norfolk City Jail, in the police release, and the Norfolk jail, in The Guardian, are the same custody only if those names are the same facility. The Guardian cited WAVY for the teenager's original counts and said authorities had not released her name because she is a minor.

WTKR reported Josephine Atienza said the couple, married 42 years, stopped at the store after church to buy groceries, and that her husband argued with the 17-year-old employee after the employee nearly struck Josephine with a cart and did not apologize. WTKR reported Josephine said the employee threw a can as the couple walked away and that the can did not hit them, and that minutes later the employee's parents arrived. She said, "They crowded my husband, one of the adults hit him in the face. He fell down on the floor." She said that while he was on the floor they were still kicking him, and that she told them to stop because he had heart problems. The Sept. 24 story quoted her as saying he said, "Help me get up," and then printed, "He has no more conscience." An earlier WTKR account of the same interview, and The Guardian, printed "consciousness." Conscience and consciousness are not the same word. The Guardian said store video shows White and Mitchell approached and attacked him, that he was shoved from behind, grabbed and punched, pushed into a shelving unit, and that one of the suspects allegedly kicked him. WTKR's Sept. 24 story said court video shows the parents entered and attacked him and that it appears he is hit and kicked while on the ground. Those are the reported descriptions of the video. They are not a finding of who struck which blow.

WTKR reported defense attorney James Broccoletti, who represents White, said, "Nobody planned to go over there and to kill this man," and that the evidence establishes at best an assault. The Sept. 28 story reported he said his office received threatening emails and voicemails. It reported Mitchell's position through a no-comment from her attorney in the Sept. 24 story. It reported Kevin Keller, a lawyer for Josephine Atienza, described a strike and a fall and said witnesses described a hard impact with the floor. Keller's account and Broccoletti's account are the lawyers' positions. WTKR reported on Sept. 28 that the case against the parents goes to a grand jury on Oct. 7. WTKR, The Guardian, and the June 9 police release did not report an indictment or a no-bill from that date. The Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home obituary says Atienza was born in Malabon City, Philippines, in 1948, earned an accounting degree from the University of the East in 1969, worked as an accountant at the Bank of the Philippines, immigrated in 1993, and later worked at Home Depot for 20 years. WTKR reported Josephine said she was a bank teller and he was an accountant in the Philippines. A bank teller, in her account, and an employee of the same bank, in the obituary, are not the same job title. The obituary says he is survived by Josephine and their son, Jobert Atienza. WTKR, The Guardian, the police release, and that obituary did not describe military service. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.