A shopper identified as John Lewis died on July 5 inside a Vons grocery store in Granada Hills, a neighborhood in the Los Angeles area. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed Lewis's identity.
Despite the circumstances, the store remained open, and Lewis’s body was reportedly left in the bakery aisle for approximately four hours. Paszion Horner-Smith, a supervisor on duty at the time, stated that store management instructed staff to use shopping carts to conceal the body from other customers and employees.
"How can anybody do that,” Horner-Smith told CBS LA, a local affiliate. “I mean the lack of empathy is just horrible. It is horrific.”
Horner-Smith and another employee attempted to administer CPR to Lewis when he experienced a medical emergency. She recounted receiving a call from corporate managers who, after observing the situation via surveillance cameras, directed her to barricade the body with carts.
Lewis's grieving family members were present in the store during this time, waiting for mortuary services to arrive. Horner-Smith described the scene as the family sat in the store, unable to see or touch their deceased loved one while shoppers continued to move around them.
A spokesperson for Albertsons, the parent company of Vons, issued a statement expressing sadness over the incident. "Our thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones," the statement said. "Our team contacted emergency responders and supported first responders as they attended to the medical emergency, as well as local police who remained present."
The company added that it works closely with emergency responders and law enforcement to assess situations and would not share further details out of respect for Lewis and his family.