Chesapeake Walmart workers sues the company for hiring and continuing to employ shooter Andre Bing

By James On Nov 30, 2022

Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16, from Chesapeake

Chavez-Barron was an 11th grade honors student who had just started driving and took a part-time job to help support his family, according to friends and a GoFundMe page set up for the family. The page’s organizer, Tamara Nelson, confirmed over the phone that the page was authentic, but declined to comment further.

“An excellent son and excellent big brother, he loved building with Lego,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He will always be remembered as a humble, loving, responsible and hard-working young man. His loss is felt not only by his family, but by so many others in his community.”

Family friend Rosy Perez told The New York Times that the teen worked the night shift at Walmart to help his family.

“He wanted to help out a little bit,” Perez said. “He was a very good kid.”

Kellie Pyle, 52, from Chesapeake

Pyle grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, and moved back to the Hampton Roads area from Kentucky after reconnecting with her high school sweetheart on Facebook.

She and Brian Baker planned to get married next year.

“I never saw her so happy, except when she talked about her children,” said a cousin, William Pillar-Gibson.

“This wasn’t just another chapter for her — it was the best chapter,” Pillar-Gibson said. ‘She was grandma. Her children thrived. She was with the love of her life. She was home again.’

Pyle had two adult children in their twenties and a young granddaughter who was “the light of Kellie’s life,” her cousin said.

Pyle had been the caretaker for her parents when their health declined and for her brother when he suffered a stroke.

“She handled everything,” Pillar-Gibson said. “If something needed to be done, she did it. And she has suffered a lot of loss.’

Recently, Pyle showed her generosity and caring to her fiancé’s mother, Gwendolyn Bowe Baker Spencer.

In a brief statement, Spencer said, “We love her … She was a wonderful, kind person – yes she was.”

Brian Pendleton, 38, of Chesapeake

Pendleton made sure he was on time. Although his janitor shift began at 10:30 p.m., according to his mother, Michelle Johnson, he was in the break room just after 10 p.m. when the shooting began.

“He always came to work early so he would be on time for work,” she said. “He loved his colleagues.”

Pendleton had recently celebrated its 10th anniversary at the store.

His mother said he had no problems at work except with a supervisor, Andre Bing, who was identified as the shooter.

“He just didn’t like my son,” Johnson said. “He would tell me that he (Bing) would give him a hard time.”

Pendleton was born with a congenital brain disorder and grew up in Chesapeake, his mother said.

“He called me yesterday before he left for work,” Johnson said. “I always tell him to call me when he’s done working.”

While getting ready for bed, Johnson received a call from a family friend telling her there was a shooting at the Walmart.

“Brian was a lucky guy. Brian loved family. Brian loved friends. He liked to tell jokes,’ his mother said. “We’re going to miss him.”

Randy Blevins, 70, from Chesapeake

Blevins started working for Walmart in the early 1990s after the five and a dime he owned with his wife, Teresa, went bankrupt, his stepdaughter Cassandra Yeatts said.

When Walmart came to town, they kind of drove their business out of business,” Yeatts said. “My mom contacted the manager of the Walmart in Sam’s Drive and said, ‘Hey, you’ve bankrupted us and my husband needs a job.'”

Blevins had a job interview and was hired on the spot as an overnight stocker, a job that included unloading trucks, Yeatts said.

He liked the third shift because he had the days to himself. He attended Norfolk Admirals hockey games and watched professional wrestling and Washington Commanders football games on TV.

Blevins also took photographs of people and places in nearby Isle of Wight County, according to a 1996 story in the Isle of Wight Citizen. The photos were stuck on postcards and sold for another five-and-dime that his brother managed.

Blevins never skipped a day at work, his stepdaughter said.

“He never had any complaints about anyone he worked with and he loved going to work,” Yeatts said.

Blevins is survived by three stepdaughters. And even though he and wife Teresa Blevins divorced, they remained best friends, Yeatts said.

“Thanksgiving and Christmas were his favorite holidays,” she said.

Tyneka Johnson, 22, of Portsmouth

Theodore Johnson, 41, told The New York Times his cousin lived with her mother.

“She was young and wanted to make her own money,” he said.

When Johnson attended Western Branch High School, Casheba Cannon taught the student with dreams of college and a supportive family, Cannon told The Washington Post.

‘Education came first. Her family did what they had to do to make sure she got help,” Cannon said.

Johnson was willing to work to better herself, but she was also cheerful, helping younger students and “learned” with everyone she encountered at Cannon’s Blessed Tutoring Services, she said. Johnson had a sense of style and a love of music and dance.

‘She was that child. When she was tutored, she was really put together,” Cannon said. “Tyneka was a light in a dark room.”

A makeshift memorial to Johnson was placed in a lawn outside the Walmart, with the words “Our Hearts are with you” and a basket of flowers.

The commemoration included a cluster of blue, white and gold balloons tied to a tree, alongside a stark yellow line of police tape.

Lorenzo Gamble, 43, of Chesapeake

Gamble was a night shift custodian and had worked at Walmart for 15 years, The Washington Post reported.

His parents Linda and Alonzo Gamble said he enjoyed spending time with his two sons.

“He just kept to himself and did his job,” Linda Gamble said. “He was the quiet one of the family.”

His mother said Gamble enjoyed going to his 19-year-old’s football games and cheering for the Washington Commanders NFL team.

She posted on Facebook that she is having trouble saying goodbye.

“I miss my baby now, life is not the same without my son,” she wrote.