{"id":757750,"date":"2026-07-12T02:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T02:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/757750\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T02:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T02:04:09","slug":"la-supermarkets-despicable-act-after-shopper-dropped-dead-in-aisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/757750\/","title":{"rendered":"LA supermarket\u2019s despicable act after shopper dropped dead in aisle"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Southern California supermarket<\/a> is facing backlash after keeping its doors open for hours with a dead shopper lying in the bakery aisle \u2014 even asking workers to block the body with shopping carts.<\/p>\n

The shocking incident unfolded July 5 at a Vons in the Los Angeles neighborhood<\/a> of Granada Hills, where a customer died inside the store. Rather than closing, management continued serving shoppers as the body remained in the store for hours, CBS LA reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The shocking incident unfolded July 5 at a Vons in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Granada Hills.<\/p>\n

A southern California supermarket made a despicable decision to remain open after a shopper dropped dead, with the body lying in the store for hours.<\/p>\n

Employee Paszion Horner-Smith \u2014 who was working as a supervisor when the customer suffered a medical emergency \u2014 got choked up when recalling the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can anybody do that,\u201d Horner-Smith told CBS LA. \u201cI mean the lack of empathy is just horrible. It is horrific.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and another employee tried to give the person CPR, but it was too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Horner-Smith said she then got a call from her managers at corporate who saw the body in a surveillance video and was told they needed to block the body with shopping carts.<\/p>\n

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It happened at a Vons supermarket in the Los Angeles suburb of Granada Hills on July 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m being called by someone in corporate because they\u2019re looking at the cameras, telling me that I need to barricade the body by using carts,\u201d she recounted.<\/p>\n

The grim scene dragged on for four hours as the victim\u2019s grieving family was forced to wait inside the store for mortuary workers to arrive, according to Horner-Smith.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPoor family that\u2019s just sitting there. They can\u2019t even see their loved one,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

All this was happening, while shoppers went about their business getting cold cuts and other goods in the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t touch their loved one. They sat in the store for four hours while people continued to shop around their deceased loved one.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Vons parent company, Albertson\u2019s, said it was \u201csaddened by this tragic situation, and our thoughts are with the individual\u2019s family and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team contacted emergency responders and supported first responders as they attended to the medical emergency, as well as local police who remained present,\u201d the company said in a statement to The California Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work closely with emergency responders and law enforcement to evaluate each situation based on the circumstances present.<\/p>\n

The company said that out of respect for deceased and their family, no further details would be shared.<\/p>\n

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