PULASKI STATE PRISON

Last updated September 13, 2026.(DS)

Pulaski State Prison: Lethal Medicine, Gang Extortion, and a Mortality Record That Keeps Growing

Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville is a medium-security women's prison that opened in 1994 and houses more than 1,200 adult female felons. The compound includes multiple double-bunked dormitory buildings plus segregation units used for disciplinary and protective custody. Pulaski offers GED classes, basic education, and limited vocational and treatment programs — a thin programmatic footprint for a facility of its size. It has been at the center of investigations into lethal medical neglect, including a long pattern of deaths under a contract physician later exposed in statewide reporting.

The facility currently holds 1,185 people against a rated capacity of 1,223 — 96.9% occupancy, and nearly two and a half times the original design capacity of 500. GPS's mortality database records 30 deaths at Pulaski since 2020, a figure that is a floor rather than a ceiling: GDC reports deaths roughly two months late, and GPS's records contain nothing before 2020. Twenty of those 30 deaths are classified as unknown or pending cause, six as natural or medical, two as suicide, and two as other. That distribution — two-thirds of deaths with no determined cause — is itself the analytical center of the facility's recent record.

The Nazaire Era: Twenty-Two Deaths and a Settlement Ledger

The most consequential chapter in Pulaski's history involves Dr. Yvon Nazaire, a contract physician whose tenure has been the subject of GPS's published investigation. GPS reporting describes accounts indicating that at least 22 women died under Nazaire's care at Pulaski State Prison and Emanuel Women's Facility between 2005 and 2015. The same GPS investigation reported that Nazaire had a history of malpractice deaths in New York before Georgia hired him, that the state hired him despite knowing about that record, that he was praised for cutting costs by denying women medical care, and that the state gave him a raise despite the denial of care that resulted in deaths. Those findings rest substantially on family and source accounts rather than court documentation, and should be read with that in mind.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has documented specific cases from this period. Bonnie Rocheleau failed to get adequate care at Pulaski when she developed pneumonia, leading to her death. Mollianne Fischer failed to receive adequate medical care at the facility, resulting in her being left in a vegetative state. The AJC's reporting on these cases, published in January 2025, placed them within a broader pattern of medical neglect.

The state's own settlement ledger, obtained through open records requests from the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management office, quantifies part of the financial toll. Georgia paid $925,000 tied to Rocheleau's 2015 death at Pulaski, $300,000 tied to the 2015 death of Kimery Finger, $85,000 tied to a 2024 incident involving Makayah Howard, $30,000 tied to a 2013 incident involving Kari A. Quinn, and $15,900 tied to a 2018 incident involving Dante Coleman. Those five payouts total more than $1.35 million — and represent only the cases that reached settlement.

New Leadership, and a Wave of Retaliation Reports

Wendy A. Jackson was appointed warden of Pulaski State Prison on April 16, 2025. GPS's published investigation described Jackson as an "untested warden," and families of people incarcerated at Pulaski began sounding the alarm about the new leadership. Within ten months of her appointment, GPS had received a pattern of reports describing retaliation, intimidation, extended lockdowns, and a non-functional grievance process.

Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe staff engaging in verbally aggressive conduct toward incarcerated people during inspections, and a warden engaging in direct confrontations with incarcerated people in common housing areas. Multiple witnesses report lockdowns extending beyond five days during which people were denied showers, phone calls, and commissary access, with some cells holding non-functioning locks. In at least one case, an incarcerated person's water access was cut off for multiple days during a lockdown; GPS staff observed a potential Eighth Amendment violation in connection with the alleged water shutoff. Family accounts corroborate the lockdown conditions, describing extended denial of showers, nearly two weeks without clean clothing, and severely limited phone access.

Families also allege that staff confiscated personal property — including locks — and told incarcerated people the property would not be returned after lockdown release. Witnesses report that removing personal security items left people vulnerable to theft of property their families had purchased. GPS has received accounts of retaliation against incarcerated people for outside contact, and of staff using intermediaries to discourage direct contact with facility leadership.

GPS records show a pattern of family fear-for-life signals at critical and high severity across three months in 2026, with three distinct sources contributing. GPS has received accounts of an incarcerated person at Pulaski receiving death threats, and of hot water thrown in an incarcerated person's face. GPS has also received an account of a severe physical assault by other incarcerated individuals in which a prior warning call to the facility went unaddressed in the period leading up to the assault.

Gang Extortion, a Stabbing No One Noticed, and a 2023 Disturbance

The violence at Pulaski does not occur in a vacuum. GPS's systemic findings document that 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%. The October 2024 Department of Justice findings letter 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." 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.

At Pulaski, the consequences are documented. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that officers and staff failed to notice a prisoner being stabbed until an outside caller reported it; the prisoner reported being assaulted hours earlier by 10 people who stomped, hit, and kicked her. GPS's investigative coverage describes accounts of gang members using violence to extort incarcerated women and their families at Pulaski. Pamela Dixon, whose daughter was held there, described paying more than $10,000 in extortion demands to gang members who threatened to disfigure her daughter's face if she did not send $300 by 8 p.m. through Cash App.

A July 15, 2023 disturbance illustrates the volatility. According to AJC reporting, incarcerated people destroyed building property; 11 were directly involved using weapons including broomsticks, a crowbar, metal spray, shanks, and locks. Chemical spray was used to quell the disturbance as nine security staff responded — nine officers for a facility holding more than 1,200 women.

The DOJ's October 2024 findings letter documented constitutional violations at Pulaski State Prison, including at-knifepoint sexual assaults. The systemic numbers are stark: of 456 sexual-abuse allegations recorded across GDC in 2022, only 35 were substantiated (7.7%). GDC's own consultants, PREA Auditors of America, reviewed 388 PREA investigation files in May 2022 and found that not one met the law's standards. Georgia has never submitted a PREA certification of full compliance to the U.S. Department of Justice in the law's two-decade history.

Deputy Warden Arrested, and a Supervisor's Prior Record

The sexual misconduct allegations at Pulaski extend to the staff who supervise the women held there. In May 2024, Deputy Warden Alonzo L. McMillian was arrested at the Hawkinsville prison and booked into the Pulaski County jail on charges of sexual contact with a prisoner. Arrest warrants stated that McMillian had a "sexual relationship" with a prisoner and specifically engaged in improper sexual contact with her on February 24 and 25. He was released the next day on a $10,000 bond. GDC spokesperson Joan Heath confirmed that both McMillian and another supervisor, Clark, were terminated on May 2 following their arrests. The AJC reported that the alleged sexual misconduct of two prison supervisors could signal a larger systemic problem within GDC, noting the arrests came as the prison system faced a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The current leadership structure at Pulaski, per GPS's personnel records, includes Warden Wendy A. Jackson (since April 16, 2025), Deputy Warden of Administration Shelley Elizabeth Hermann (since April 16, 2025), Deputy Warden Andrea Showers (since January 2023), and Deputy Warden Kasann Mahogany (since January 2019). The facility's deputy warden of care and treatment position is held by Mahogany.

Food Safety: Failing Scores, Then Follow-Up Grades

The Georgia Department of Public Health has inspected Pulaski's food service repeatedly since mid-2023, and the scores trace a pattern of failure followed by correction. The most recent routine inspection, on July 14, 2026, produced a failing score of 63 — Grade F — with ten violations cited, including issues with the certified food protection manager, adequate handwashing facilities, and proper disposition of returned or unsafe food. A follow-up on July 23, 2026 scored 96 (Grade A) with two violations, including sewage and waste water disposal and garbage handling.

That failure-and-follow-up rhythm repeats across the record: a routine score of 67 (Grade F) on January 29, 2026 with eight violations including handwashing and food-handler hygiene, followed by a 96 (Grade A) on February 6, 2026. A routine score of 73 (Grade C) on August 7, 2025 with six violations including cold-holding temperatures and backflow devices, followed by a 78 (Grade C) on September 30, 2025. Earlier inspections scored 83 (Grade B) in February 2025, 90 (Grade A) in October 2024, 82 (Grade B) in June 2024, 91 (Grade A) in January 2024, and 92 (Grade A) in June 2023. Handwashing facilities, plumbing and backflow devices, and food-contact surface sanitation recur as cited violations across the entire span.

GPS has documented a systemic pattern of food-service sanitation failure across GDC kitchens that DPH scores systematically fail to capture: tray-sanitizing dishwashers broken for sustained periods, sustained roach and rodent infestation in kitchen and serving areas, and meals served on visibly contaminated trays. The pattern is hidden from DPH scores, GPS's analysis holds, 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. GDC spends approximately $1.69 per person per day on food (2024) and has proposed $1.60 per day in FY27 — under 60 cents per meal — against the FDA Thrifty Food Plan estimate of roughly $10 per day for a nutritionally adequate adult diet. The Marshall Project independently corroborated the pattern on May 16, 2026, reporting rats in kitchens, insects in food, moldy trays, and visible malnutrition across Georgia facilities.

Six Deaths in Seven Months, Five Without a Determined Cause

The mortality record at Pulaski has accelerated. GPS's registry documents six deaths at the facility since December 2025, and in five of them the cause remains unknown or pending.

Kristi Ray Perkins, 59, died on July 12, 2026; her cause of death is classified as natural or medical, and officials reported no signs of an altercation or foul play. Monika Yvette Bradley, 43, died on July 5, 2026, with cause undetermined; GDC's Office of Professional Standards is investigating as standard procedure. Tulia Eustache, 66, died on June 3, 2026, cause pending. Karen Michelle Lindsey, 59, died on May 24, 2026, cause pending. Denecia Nichelle Randall, 28, died on March 30, 2026, classified as suicide. Ronika Lashawn Carswell, 50, died on December 12, 2025, cause pending. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating to determine the causes of death for Perkins and Bradley.

The deaths of Perkins and Bradley came within a week of each other. GDC stated that a mechanical issue with air conditioning occurred on July 9 and was resolved the same day, and that there was no indication the deaths were related to that issue. The concentration of deaths — six in seven months, five with causes still pending or undetermined — is the pattern GPS's mortality data has recorded at this facility since 2020, where 20 of 30 deaths carry no determined cause.

A Facility Built for 500, Holding 1,185

Pulaski State Prison opened in 1994 with a design capacity of 500. It now holds 1,185 women against a rated capacity of 1,223 — nearly two and a half times what it was built for, in a compound of double-bunked dormitories and segregation units. The facility offers GED classes, basic education, and limited vocational and treatment programs. The medical neglect that GPS reporting links to at least 22 deaths under Dr. Yvon Nazaire's care was never fully reckoned with. The DOJ's October 2024 findings documented constitutional violations including at-knifepoint sexual assaults. The staffing collapse that has left Georgia's prisons with vacancy rates between 49.3% and 60% systemwide has left Pulaski's population vulnerable to gang extortion and assault — as the AJC's reporting on the stabbing that went unnoticed until an outside caller reported it makes clear. And under Warden Wendy Jackson, families and incarcerated women report retaliation, intimidation, and extended lockdowns with water shutoffs, shower denials, and property confiscation, against a grievance process multiple sources describe as non-functional.

GPS records show equipment-failure signals at this facility across two months in 2026, and family fear-for-life signals at critical and high severity across three months of the same year. GPS has additionally received reports of an assault and of a denied safe-housing request following it. The women held at Pulaski are living through a convergence of crises GPS has documented across Georgia's prison system: lethal medical neglect, gang control of housing units, staff vacancy rates that leave facilities unsupervised, and a leadership structure that families say responds to complaints with retaliation rather than remedy.

Sources

This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Marshall Project; Georgia Department of Public Health food-safety inspection records; the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records requests; GDC official statements and death announcements; DOJ findings and the department's October 2024 letter; and inmate, family, and staff accounts collected by GPS. GPS's own investigative reporting on the Yvon Nazaire medical-neglect pattern, the "Dunked, Stacked, and Served" food-sanitation investigation, and the Wendy Jackson leadership allegations forms the analytical backbone of this page, alongside GPS's mortality registry and personnel records.