💔 “HELP ME, GET UP”: THE HAUNTING FINAL WORDS OF A 77-YEAR-OLD HUSBAND AT WALMART

What began as an ordinary Sunday after church ended with a 77-year-old husband dying in a hospital — and his wife of 42 years left with the memory of his final words.

“Help me, get up.”

Those were the words Bert Atienza said to his wife, Josephine, after he was allegedly assaulted inside a Walmart in Norfolk, Virginia.

She wanted to help him.

But she knew something was terribly wrong.

And within moments, Bert would lose consciousness.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NORMAL SHOPPING TRIP

On June 7, 2026, Bert and Josephine had gone to church before stopping at Walmart to buy groceries.

They had been married for 42 years.

Nothing about that afternoon suggested that their lives were about to change forever.

According to Josephine, a 17-year-old Walmart employee was moving quickly through an aisle when her shopping cart nearly struck her.

Bert confronted the teenager, telling her that she had almost hit his wife and had not apologized.

The exchange escalated.

Josephine told investigators that the teenager later threw a can toward the couple as they walked away, although it did not hit either of them.

The couple continued shopping.

They believed the confrontation was over.

It wasn’t.

THEN THE TEENAGER’S PARENTS ARRIVED

According to authorities and Josephine’s account, the teenager contacted her parents.

Travis White, 44, and Erika Mitchell, 42, subsequently arrived at the Walmart.

What happened next was captured by surveillance cameras.

The footage reportedly shows the adults confronting Bert and an assault taking place inside the store.

Josephine recalled seeing her husband struck and knocked to the floor.

She said the attack continued after Bert was down.

“My husband has heart problems,” she recalled telling them as she pleaded for the assault to stop.

For Josephine, the scene quickly became something she says she will never be able to forget.

BERT WAS STILL AWAKE

After the attack, Bert was on the floor.

Josephine was beside him.

Despite his injuries, he was still able to speak.

Then came the words that have stayed with her:

“Help me, get up.”

Josephine told him not to try.

She could see that he was badly hurt.

His mouth was bleeding, and she told him an ambulance was coming.

Then she looked at him again.

He was no longer conscious.

Bert was rushed to a hospital.

But he would never return home.

THE NEXT DAY, BERT WAS GONE

Bert died on June 8, one day after the Walmart assault.

The medical examiner determined that his cause of death was blunt-force head trauma and classified the manner of death as homicide.

What began with a disagreement involving a shopping cart had become a homicide investigation.

White and Mitchell were arrested and initially faced several charges related to the assault.

After Bert died, the charges against both adults were upgraded to second-degree murder.

They are being held without bond.

The teenager involved in the original dispute also faces charges, including assault and battery, aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy to commit a felony. Because she is 17, authorities have not publicly identified her.

THE DEFENSE SAYS IT WAS NOT PLANNED

The murder allegations remain allegations, and the defendants have not been convicted.

Attorney James Broccoletti, who represents White, has disputed the murder charges.

He said the parents did not go to Walmart intending to kill Bert.

According to the defense, the teenager called her parents while upset, and they went to the store because they believed she needed help. The attorney described what followed as an emotional and spontaneous confrontation.

The defense has argued that the evidence does not establish that the defendants intended for Bert to die.

That argument will now be tested through the criminal justice process.

A WIFE LOST THE MAN SHE HAD SPENT 42 YEARS WITH

Behind the criminal charges is another story — one that cannot be measu