COASTAL STATE PRISON

Last updated August 23, 2026.(DS)

Coastal State Prison: A Medium-Security Hub Inside a Collapsing System

Coastal State Prison, opened in 1981 near Savannah/Port Wentworth in Chatham County, is a large medium-security men's prison with 12 housing units. Six units are cellblocks with a mix of two-man and four-man cells; four are open-bay dormitories; one unit houses Faith & Character and incentive-program participants; and there is a 74-bed segregation unit plus a small infirmary. Renovated in 1999, Coastal also operates an abbreviated diagnostic intake unit and maintains a tactical squad, making it a key hub for both housing and system-wide security operations. Its original design capacity was 758; its current rated capacity is 1,836, and GPS records place the population at 1,635 — 89.1% of rated capacity, but more than double the facility's original design specification.

GPS has tracked 131 deaths at Coastal State Prison since 2020. Of those, 92 remain classified as Unknown/Pending, 31 as Natural/Medical, five as Homicide, and three as Other. The most recent recorded deaths include Bobby Clinton Biggs, 77, on June 25, 2026; Ronald Tyrone Waller, 57, on June 10, 2026; and Rene Alvarado Salazar, 38, on April 19, 2026. Two men — Anteveis Brown, 49, and Aiden Snapp, 21 — died on February 26, 2026, both classified as homicides. GPS's mortality records are a floor, since GDC reports deaths roughly two months late.

Homicides, Broken Locks, and the Failure to Protect

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has documented a series of violent deaths at Coastal State Prison that share a common feature: assailants reaching victims who should have been separated from them. Kion E. Parks, 31, died on September 14, 2021 from stab wounds; an incident report shows five other prisoners were involved, and a lawsuit alleges five inmates stabbed Parks to death. Rufus Ramon Lee, 27, died on December 14, 2021 from a stab wound to the chest; four other prisoners were involved and four were indicted. A lawsuit filed by Lee's mother alleges that the lock on his cell didn't work, allowing assailants from other cells and dorms to reach and kill him.

The pattern continued. Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43, died on October 20, 2023 in what GDC classified as an apparent homicide. Ryan Chase Archer, 25, died on December 13, 2023 from a stab wound to the chest after a fight with other prisoners; he was due to be released in 2024. Raymond Littles, 49, died on April 16, 2024 in an incident classified as a homicide, with another prisoner disciplined. In February 2026, WTOC reported that a second death within one week had been confirmed at Coastal, and that two inmates had died on the same day. A March 2020 assault at Coastal was forwarded for investigation, WALB reported, but no records of such an investigation exist — and the same individual later strangled a cellmate to death at another prison.

The broken-lock allegation in the Lee lawsuit sits inside a system-wide infrastructure failure GPS has documented across GDC facilities: broken cell-door locks (a 2012 Hays audit found roughly 42% non-functional, confirmed by the 2024 Guidehouse assessment), inoperative surveillance and fire-alarm systems, mold and water failures, broken kitchen sanitization equipment, and pest infestations. The DOJ's October 2024 findings, the Guidehouse assessment, and Commissioner Tyrone Oliver's public "end of life" statements all corroborate the pattern. GPS treats infrastructure collapse as a force multiplier for the violence, classification, gang-control, and mortality crises documented at the facility level.

The state has paid for some of what happened here. GA DOAS Risk Management settlement records show liability payouts tied to Coastal State Prison: $600,000 to Dennis Carpenter (incident 2022, linked to a documented death record), $200,000 to Joel Greene (2019), $115,000 to Milton Ross (2011), $50,000 to Cager Maleeah (2016), and $8,000 to Ronald Ray Agan (2023).

The Kitchen: A Score That Doesn't Match What's on the Tray

The Georgia Department of Public Health inspected Coastal State Prison's kitchen on April 23, 2026 and issued a score of 70 — a Grade C, down from 80 in October 2025, 87 in February 2025, and 84 in October 2023. The Georgia Virtue reported the inspection findings in detail: live flies and roaches in the kitchen, a dead mouse floating in backed-up mop water in the mess hall dishpit (a repeat violation), mold-like growth on ceiling tiles throughout the entire kitchen area along with peeling and missing ceiling tiles (also repeat), fish at 122°F and chicken at 98°F sitting on the counter — both below the required 135°F hot holding temperature — and no sanitizer in the three-compartment sink while inmates were actively washing dishes, another repeat violation. Inspectors also found a mildew-like substance in the interior of the ice machine, exit doors with large gaps underneath allowing entry of insects and rodents, and multiple plumbing failures including a leaking pipe, a sink where hot water could not be turned on or off, a loose spigot, and a backed-up mop sink. The facility was given until May 3 to correct the issues.

WTOC Investigates obtained maintenance records from Coastal State Prison from May to November 2025 showing over $5,000 spent on pest control; GDC said it has no records related to mold remediation.

These inspection findings are consistent with what GPS has documented systemically: tray-sanitizing dishwashers broken for sustained periods, sustained roach and rodent infestation in kitchen and serving areas, and meals served on visibly contaminated trays. GPS's systemic finding — developed in the "Dunked, Stacked, and Served" investigation and the scores-without-sanitation topic — is that DPH scores systematically fail to capture what inmate maintenance workers observe inside the equipment, because inspections are scheduled walkthroughs that do not assess equipment under load, and because GPS has documented professional overlap between inspectors and facility staff in small-county settings. The Marshall Project's May 16, 2026 investigation of Georgia prison food independently corroborated the pattern, reporting rats in kitchens, insects in food, moldy trays, and visible malnutrition across Georgia facilities, and quoting GPS connecting chronic underfeeding to the violence pattern the DOJ documented in October 2024.

The food itself is underfunded. GPS has documented that GDC spends approximately $1.69 per person per day on food (2024), with a proposed $1.60 per day in FY27 — under 60 cents per meal — against an FDA Thrifty Food Plan estimate of roughly $10 per day for an adult man's nutritionally adequate diet. GPS records show eight sanitation-failure signals and five food-quality complaints at Coastal across multiple months in 2026, with an external complaint filed to the U.S. Department of Justice. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a pattern of food insufficiency, restricted commissary access, and meals served on contaminated trays at Coastal.

Staffing Collapse, Violence, and the Question of Who's in Charge

WTOC reported in February 2026 that workers and inmates at Coastal State Prison described a human rights crisis: crumbling infrastructure, black mold throughout housing units, rat and mice infestations, frequent air conditioning and heating failures, lockdowns lasting seven to ten days without shower access, and staff allegedly withholding food from inmates as punishment — including not waking sleeping inmates for meal calls and then denying them food. Some correctional officers are alleged to brutally beat inmates regularly, with one employee reporting hearing screams during their walk to work caused by someone being beaten. GDC records show no correctional officers were disciplined for violence against inmates over a six-month period in 2025, despite employees saying such violence is common.

The DOJ's October 2024 findings letter explicitly concluded that "the leadership of the Georgia Department of Corrections has lost control of its facilities" and faulted GDC for placing "too much blame on gangs and insufficient emphasis on understaffing." Officer vacancies in Georgia's prisons have run between 49.3% and 60% systemwide for multiple years, against a national standard of no more than 10%. Approximately 31% of the system's roughly 49,000 incarcerated population are validated members of 315 different security threat groups — more than double the national average. DOJ and the Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment independently concluded that gangs effectively run multiple facilities, controlling access to phones, showers, food, and bed assignments.

A federal judge in Georgia's Middle District scolded Commissioner Tyrone Oliver for "failure to comply with court orders" and asked whether the GDC "deems itself above the law," WTOC reported in February 2026. The same reporting noted that lockdowns at Coastal prevent inmates from attending classes and programs needed to earn Performance Incentive Credits for early parole eligibility, and that the DOJ report criticized Georgia prisons including Coastal State for overusing lockdowns and isolation, particularly on victims of sexual abuse.

GPS records show six staff-misconduct signals and six family-safety-concern signals at Coastal across 2026, with three family-safety-concern signals at high severity in May 2026 alone. Family accounts collected by GPS describe a pattern of inoperable air conditioning, heat exhaustion, slow medical response, and violence and drug use described as out of control. GPS has received accounts of an incarcerated person with a mobility disability being moved from an accessible ground-floor segregation cell to an inaccessible upper-floor cell, requiring other incarcerated people to carry the individual and wheelchair up the stairs while a staff member observed without intervening.

In January 2026, WTOC reported that a Coastal State Prison employee was arrested and charged with trading with inmates without the consent of the warden or superintendent. Five inmates at Coastal were indicted for a violent assault in October 2025.

Leadership in Transition

Commissioner Tyrone Oliver announced the reassignment of David Stokes, previously Warden at Central State Prison, to Warden at Coastal State Prison effective June 1, 2026. Stokes replaced Phillip Glenn, who had held the post. The deputy warden of security is Karen Finch, in the role since August 2024.

Sources

This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WTOC, WALB, The Georgia Virtue, and The Marshall Project; Georgia Department of Public Health inspection records; GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledgers obtained through open records; federal court findings including the October 2024 DOJ investigation; GPS's mortality database and internal intelligence records; and inmate and family accounts collected by GPS staff.