CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Michelle Johnson told me her son, Brian Pendleton, was known best for sparking joy.
“He used to like to make people laugh,” Johnson said. “That was Brian.”
It’s been nearly a year since she’s heard her son’s sounds of joy.
“It’s been quiet,” she told me, staring off into the distance.
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The silence— interrupted by her prayers for peace and solace— haven’t stopped since a Walmart supervisor ended her son’s life, along with killing five others and injuring several more, just days before Thanksgiving last year.
“I don’t think [my son] deserved to go to work and end up getting killed,” Johnson said. “You can't protect your children all the time. That's what my problem was.”
At 38-years-old, Pendleton had already beat so many odds.
He was learning disabled, and he endured several surgeries throughout his life to manage a buildup of fluid in his brain.
Yet, for more than a decade, Pendleton was fiercely devoted to his job as a custodian at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle in the Greenbrier community of Chesapeake.
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His mother told me he was widely known for always reporting to work early.
I asked, “Why do you think he loved his job at Walmart so much?”
Johnson replied, “It became family.”
“He got along with everybody, but he started having problems with this one manager,” she continued. “He said the manager was always picking on him. Didn't matter what he did.”
Johnson said she encouraged her son to report his supervisor, Andre Bing, to Walmart leadership for his behavior.
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According to lawsuits filed against Walmart by Pendleton's surviving co-workers, they complained to the company about Bing's "erratic, disturbing, violent and harassing behavior" in the months and years before the shooting.
They said he made "veiled threats of active shooter situations."
Yet, Walmart chose to keep Bing employed at the store.
On Nov. 22, 2022, Bing opened fire in the break room where Pendleton had arrived early to do the job he loved so dearly.
“[Brian] was shot in the back of the head and the bullet came out of the top of his head,” his mother said.
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I asked, “Were you in disbelief?”
"I was," she answered, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's not supposed to happen. You're not supposed to bury your children."
I also asked, “What went through your mind replaying the conversations your son had [about Bing]?”
She replied, “Angry, and also sorry for [the shooter] at the same time.”
“I'm angry for what [the shooter has] done," she explained. "Sorry that he did not make a better choice or decision. Sorry that he ended his life before he could repent for what he done.”
Bing killed Pendleton, Randy Blevins, Lorenzo Gamble, Tyneka Johnson, Kellie Pyle, and Fernando Jesus Chavez-Barron, a high school student.
Johnson told me, “I was so devastated by everybody that lost life that night, but the father and mother that lost the young son that was working there, the only thing I could say or think about then was, 'At least I had 37 years with my son. They didn’t even have their son for 17.'”
Five months after the shooting, Walmart reopened the store.
As I was there reporting, I noticed Johnson and her husband quietly observing the massive celebration in the shadow of their grief. They were not ready to share their story then, but as the anniversary nears, they decided to open up to me about their opinion of the store’s reopening.
“As long as I know my son's blood is laying on the floor back there, I'm not going back there,” she told me. “I'm not going back in that store.”
“I think they should have torn it down," she continued.
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Johnson also told me she was disappointed in the memorial Walmart created at the store. There are benches and lights, but no mention of the victims names or specific references to the mass shooting.
It’s up to her to ensure the world knows here son was here, and his life matters.
“I will never forget my son," she said. "I'll never forget my baby."
Johnson told me her deep faith has kept her from losing hope since her son's death.
“I can’t fold up and give up. I will not blame God, because God is good. And I will not be angry and bitter the rest of my life,” she said. “I'm just angry but I can't fix it, so I'm just going to trust God.”
