SMYRNA, Ga. — 11Alive has learned that the suspect accused of handing possibly tainted paperwork to two Smyrna police officers that caused them to have "respiratory distress" and "extreme fatigue" now faces another charge connected to a church employee who also experienced similar symptoms.
A criminal warrant in Cobb County shows that Little Stone, 51, faces an additional charge of felony aggravated assault with the intent to murder -- for a total of three charges -- after that church employee got sick in almost the same way.
According to previous reporting, Stone entered the Smyrna Police Department headquarters on the afternoon of Feb. 6 while recording on a black tablet. The warrant said Stone spoke with a clerk and two officers before giving the officers two pieces of paper. Stone "quickly exited the building," according to the narrative. About five minutes later, the warrant said both officers began to "experience respiratory distress and extreme fatigue." Both were taken to the hospital and are still being treated for fatigue, chest pains, chest tightness, dizziness and difficulty breathing.
Meanwhile, after reports of the officers' hospitalization aired, the warrant said the pastor at a church located along the same path that Stone took realized that an employee there had been out sick since Feb. 10 with symptoms nearly identical to those experienced by the officers.
According to the warrant, the employee was the one who found the papers and took them inside the church. But it wasn't until two weeks later that the pastor rediscovered the papers, looked at them and realized that Stone's name was on them.
At that moment, the pastor realized that the employee had been sick since she touched the papers and suspected she may have been exposed to the same potential substances as the officers. He reported his discovery to the Smyrna Police Department on March 2, nearly a month after the officers were sickened.
PREVIOUS: Warrants: 2 Smyrna Police officers hospitalized after touching paperwork dropped off at station
Police followed up with the church employee, who confirmed that she had been severely ill since Feb. 10, but several blood tests had yet to uncover why. She explained to officers that she initially didn't link the exposure to the paperwork to her illness because she had been getting over a cold and was on antibiotics. However, she told them that they stopped working around the same time as touching the paperwork, and she got even more ill.
She explained that she found the papers under the door at the church, and it appeared they had been there a few days. Within the same five-minute timeframe of touching the papers, she felt extremely tired, experienced profuse sweating and described her chest was feeling very heavy. After almost falling off a step ladder, the employee said she went home and was in bed until the next day and skipped work. The warrant said the employee reported that she has been out of work for weeks and is still suffering from extreme medical complications.
The FBI took custody of the letter for additional testing, but, so far, has not been able to identify the substance on the paperwork.
Meanwhile, Stone remains locked up without bond after a judge determined he was a danger to the public.
11Alive looked into his criminal history and discovered he is currently on probation on a charge of terrorist threats, which he pleaded guilty to in 2023. Stone was accused of showing up to Puckett EMS in Austell and telling employees, “I’m going to blow you all up.”
He was arrested in April 2021 for that incident and indicted in February 2023. In October 2023, he was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.