A Georgia woman is demanding answers after her fiancé collapsed and died at work inside a troubled USPS facility near Atlanta, where three other workers have reportedly died since it opened just over two years ago.
Demarcus Little Sr., 45, died June 3 at the Palmetto Regional Processing and Distribution Center, a massive suburban Atlanta mail facility that has already faced criticism over major delays and now renewed scrutiny over worker safety.
His fiancée, Laura Wheaton, said Little called her during his break that night and told her he was not feeling well. According to Wheaton, he asked a supervisor if he could go home because he felt sick, but was allegedly told no.
Not long after, Little was reportedly found on the floor.
Wheaton later wrote on Facebook that coworkers began calling her the next day with disturbing claims about what happened in his final moments. She said she was told Little had been foaming at the mouth and that no one performed CPR because of a workplace policy employees allegedly described as “NEVER TOUCH A BODY.”
“They are telling so much weird things that happened,” Wheaton wrote, adding that workers feared they would be fired if they spoke out.
The chilling details did not stop there.
911 calls obtained by WXIA revealed that multiple coworkers tried to get emergency help to the facility. In one call, a worker told dispatchers, “We have a young man who has fallen out. He appears to be having a stroke.”
Another caller sounded increasingly alarmed as the minutes ticked by.
“We’ve called several times, and nobody has made it here,” the coworker said. “This man has been down for like 10 minutes.”
According to WXIA, the first 911 call came in at 11:06 p.m., but first responders did not arrive until 11:25 p.m.
Little’s cause of death has not been released.
His death has brought new attention to a series of fatalities at the same USPS facility. In November 2025, another employee, Russell Scruggs Jr., died there. Coworkers reportedly told the World Socialist Web Site that supervisors stood around him without administering CPR. Workers also claimed there was no defibrillator available and that an ambulance took more than an hour to arrive after going to the wrong entrance.
Before Scruggs, 59-year-old Eric Smith died at the facility in June 2025 after a medical emergency. In August 2024, 48-year-old Sharon Barnes also died there.
The causes of death for Barnes and Scruggs have not been publicly released.
Atlanta Black Star reviewed USPS policies for “serious workplace accidents” and reported that the agency’s available procedures explain how to report serious injuries, but do not clearly outline what employees should do when a medical emergency is happening in real time.
USPS issued a statement after Little’s death, saying, “Our thoughts are with their family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. We will be providing counseling services to employees at the Palmetto Regional Distribution Center.”
The Palmetto facility has also been blasted by Georgia lawmakers over serious mail delays affecting metro Atlanta residents.
For Wheaton, the biggest question remains unanswered: Could more have been done to save the man she loved?
Atlanta Black Star said it reached out to USPS and Wheaton for more information but had not heard back.
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