From The Virginian-Pilot

Iesha Rountree, Nichelle Carter, Shakida Bowers, Skyler Hayward

One man died and two others were hospitalized after they were attacked and beaten by a crowd of people in East Ocean View, according to police.

19-year-old James Robertson of Georgia, died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The other two people were released.

Of those charged in the death, four are teenage girls. The four girls are to be tried as adults, and Wednesday all four were indicted. A trial date has not yet been set.

17-year-old Skyler Hayward waived her hearing and testified against the other three; Ieshia Rountree, 15, Shakida Bowers, 15, and Nichelle Carter, 15.

A grand jury will hear the charges against all four girls.

The attack occurred around 11:45 p.m. in the 9500 block of 16th Bay Street on Friday, July 27th.

Police say a group of five or six females and six to ten males, all thought to be in their teens or 20s, stripped the three victims and then beat them.

Two of the men were able to break free of their attackers and run to a nearby Chanello's Pizza shop, where they were able to get help.

When officers arrived a few minutes later, they found James Robertson still at the scene, badly beaten.

"This is a horrific crime,” said Chief Bruce Marquis of the Norfolk Police Department. “My motivation here today is to assure the citizens that we are not going to tolerate this as a police department."

Chief Marquis says patrols in the area had been increased before the beating.

He says due to this heinous crime and other similar robberies in the area, East Ocean View has now become a new crime hotspot.

Two men and the four teenage girls have been arrested in connection with the attack. Raymond Ahmad, 29, and Melvin Arrington, 18, are the two men arrested in the case.

All six of those arrested face several charges, including murder.

Police plan to make several more arrests.

Police ask anyone with information on the attack to call the Crime Line at 1-888-Lock-U-Up.