The fiancée of the worker who died at the metro Atlanta USPS facility is speaking out after coworkers revealed disturbing details about his death.
Demarcus Little Sr., 45, died at the Palmetto Regional Processing and Distribution Center on June 3. His fiancée, Laura Wheaton, spoke with the Atlanta Black Star about what happened.
“I talked to Demarcus on his lunch break, and he was perfectly fine; nothing was wrong with him,” she said.
Almost two and a half hours later, she said she got a call from police that Little had passed out.
“I get to the hospital and then by the time I get there, they’re already saying he was gone,” Wheaton said.
911 calls obtained by WXIA revealed multiple coworkers tried to call first responders to the facility.
“We have a young man who has fallen out. He appears to be having a stroke,” one caller told dispatchers.
During another call, a coworker pointed out that EMS was taking a while to arrive.
“We’ve called several times, and nobody has made it here. This man has been down for like 10 minutes,” the caller said.
Atlanta Black Star previously reported that Little is the fourth worker to die at the facility since it opened a little over two years ago. Wheaton said since his death, she’s been receiving “disturbing” calls from the post office and people who work there.
“Someone contacted me and said their partner passed away the same way Demarcus did at the facility,” Wheaton said. She did not identify the individual.
Russell Scruggs Jr., another USPS employee, died at the facility in November 2025. Coworkers told the WSWS that supervisors stood around him without administering CPR.
Employees also reported that no defibrillator was available and that an ambulance took over an hour to arrive after they went to the wrong entrance.
Before that, Eric Smith, 59, died in June 2025 from a medical emergency. And in August 2024, Sharon Barnes, 48, also died at the facility.
Wheaton said the woman who contacted her said she witnessed her partner’s death at the facility.
“She seems to think that it’s fentanyl in the boxes,” she said. Atlanta Black Star asked if Little’s final autopsy or toxicology reports have come back to prove the claim. They have not been released.
Wheaton also alleged another worker passed out and was sent to the emergency room earlier this week.
“He’s only 26,” she said. “They’re trying to hide that.”
Our reporter reached out to the United States Postal Service to verify these claims, but has not heard back.
Atlanta Black Star combed through the United States Postal Service’s policies and procedures for “serious workplace accidents.”
USPS only offers instructions for how to report serious injuries, not what to do when one occurs. It’s unclear if that is up to the individual facility to address.
USPS sent a statement to Atlanta Black Star in the wake of Little’s death.
“Our thoughts are with their family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time,” the statement said. “We will be providing counseling services to employees at the Palmetto Regional Distribution Center.”
Wheaton has six children, one of whom she shares with Little. She told Atlanta Black Star she is still trying to explain to her daughter that Little is gone.
“I finally broke it down to her, and I let her know that Daddy wasn’t coming back. I said, ‘he’s an angel now.’ And she said, ‘What’s that?’ (She doesn’t understand what angels are yet),” Wheaton said.
She paused during our phone interview and broke down.
“I was just telling her he’s in the sky now, he’s got wings. So, she was like, ‘Can we call him?’” Wheaton said. “We won’t be able to talk to him again.”
Wheaton is now raising money to have a proper burial for Little as she supports her six children.