Walmart Shooting Victims Remembered
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CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) -- A 16-year-old helping his family. A custodian and father of two. A mother with wedding plans. A happy-go-lucky guy. A longtime employee.
That's how friends and family described some of the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night.
Here are some details about those who were lost:
Randy Blevins, 70, of Chesapeake
Blevins started working for Walmart in the early 1990s after the five-and-dime he owned with his wife, Teresa, went under, his stepdaughter Cassandra Yeatts told The Associated Press.
"When Walmart came to town, they kind of drove their business out of business," Yeatts said. "My mom contacted the manager of the Walmart at Sam's Drive and said, 'Hey, you put us out of business and my husband needs a job.'"
Blevins had an interview and got hired on the spot as an overnight stocker, a job that included unloading trucks, Yeatts said.
Blevins leaves behind three stepdaughters. And although he and his wife Teresa Blevins divorced, they remained best friends, Yeatts said.
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Fernando "Jesus" Chavez-Barron, 16, of Chesapeake
Chavez-Barron was an honors student in the 11th grade who had just begun driving and had taken a part-time job to help out his family, according to friends and a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
Family friend Rosy Perez told The New York Times that the teen worked the overnight shift at Walmart to assist his family.
"He wanted to help a little bit," Perez said. "He was a very good child."
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Kellie Pyle, 52, of Chesapeake
Pyle grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, and moved back to the Hampton Roads region from Kentucky after reconnecting with her high school sweetheart on Facebook.
She and Brian Baker planned to marry next year.
"I've never seen her this happy, except when she talked about her children," said a cousin, William Pillar-Gibson.
Pyle had two adult children in their 20s and a young granddaughter who was "the light of Kellie's life," her cousin said.
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Brian Pendleton, 38, of Chesapeake
Pendleton made sure to be punctual. Although his shift as a custodian started at 10:30 p.m., he was in the break room when the shooting started just after 10, according to his mother, Michelle Johnson.
"He always came to work early so he would be on time for work," she told The Associated Press Wednesday. "He liked his coworkers."
Pendleton had recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary working at the store.
His mother said he didn't have any problems at work, except with a supervisor, Andre Bing, who was identified as the gunman.
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Lorenzo Gamble, 43, of Chesapeake
Gamble was a custodian on the overnight shift and had worked at Walmart for 15 years, The Washington Post reported.
His parents Linda and Alonzo Gamble said he loved 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."
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Tyneka Johnson, 22, of Portsmouth
Theodore Johnson, 41, told The New York Times that 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 tutored the student with dreams of college and a supportive family, Cannon told The Washington Post.
"Education was in the forefront. Her family did whatever they had to do to make sure she got assistance," Cannon said.