Three DeKalb County sanitation workers were honored Tuesday for helping save a young woman’s life.

According to officials, ZahMontay Cherry, Richard Jones and Peter Williams were working their regular route near Lithonia when, on Oct. 4, they dumped a curbside roll cart into their truck. They then “noticed someone’s hand protruding from the hopper.”

The hand belonged to a 16-year-old girl — who was still alive.

The sanitation workers quickly called 911 and “assured that the teenager received the care she needed,” officials said.

In a Twitter post celebrating the sanitation workers, the DeKalb County Police Department said the girl had “fallen asleep” in the garbage can, but no further details about the nature of the incident were available.

“Not only were these gentlemen focused on serving DeKalb County with excellence,” Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson said. “They also served with awareness.”

Davis Johnson and her colleagues honored the men at the start of Tuesday’s commission meeting, the board’s first in-person gathering since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Author

Keep Reading

A bin for the textile reclamation company Green Zone LLC has become a dumping spot for discarded furniture and other trash in the parking lot of a skilled nursing facility on Temple Avenue in College Park. (Nedra Rhone/AJC)

Credit: nedra rhone

Featured

Waymo autonomous vehicles operate across 65 square miles inside I-285 and have been involved in six incidents with Atlanta Public School buses since May. Waymo issued a recall because of their cars briefly stopping or slowing down before continuing forward while a bus was stopped and flashing its lights. (Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools)

Credit: Courtesy of Atlanta Public Schools