NORFOLK, Va. — The parents of a teenage Walmart employee face second-degree murder charges in connection with a deadly attack on a 77-year-old man inside a Norfolk store that has drawn international attention.
Bert Atienza died in the hospital the day after the June 7 attack at the Walmart on North Military Highway. Authorities say he died from blunt head trauma.
Erika Mitchell and Travis White are accused of going to the store minutes after receiving a call from their 17-year-old daughter and attacking Atienza. Their daughter, who was 17-years-old at the time, a Walmart employee, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Watch: Deadly Walmart attack: Witness video shows what happened before the violence
According to Atienza's wife Josephine, Bert and the teenager got into an argument after he confronted her for allegedly pushing her cart too close to his wife while shopping. The situation escalated when the parents arrived.
Kevin Keller, an attorney representing Atienza's widow, described the attack.
"He doesn't get a chance to do anything and there's no chance for any conversation. They just lay into him. There's no more words exchanged. Then he falls to the floor when he struck several times … The witnesses have said that he struck his head very hard on the floor and it was very loud sickening crack," Keller said.
James Broccoletti, the defense attorney representing White, said no one intended for the confrontation to turn fatal.
"Nobody planned to go over there and to kill this man. No one had that intent in their heart and in their mind at the time that they went over there. It was an instantaneous situation that occurred, and a tragic and incredibly unfortunate situation that occurred," Broccoletti said.
Coverage of the case went viral and drew thousands of comments from people expressing anger over what happened. Broccoletti said his office has received threats from people across the country.
Watch: Deadly encounter inside Virginia Walmart
"I received a significant amount of hate email, threatening emails, threatening voicemails. That are very disturbing. I think that people are not understanding what the role of a lawyer is and what the job that a lawyer has and what the fundamental principles of the United States Constitution are," Broccoletti said.
When asked whether he was surprised by the volume of threatening and hateful messages, Broccoletti said he was caught off guard.
"Shocked. Shocked. It's the last thing in the world I ever expected," Broccoletti said.
A Walmart representative previously said the teenage employee is no longer working for the company and that Walmart will continue to work with law enforcement, declining further comment on the matter.
Keller said the victim's family does not believe enough was done to help the Atienzas at the time of the attack and that they plan to move forward with several lawsuits.
"This is a coordinated assault by an employee inside of a store that involves what looks to be and failure of the securities as well," Keller said.
Bert's wife, Josephine Atienza, described the impact of her husband's death.
"I lost a husband of 42 years and my son lost a father as each day passes by. I feel the pain of loneliness being by myself now. There is an anger and bitterness in me if only I could turn back time," Josephine said.
The case against the parents goes to a grand jury Oct. 7.
