GDC Mortality Statistics
Documenting every death in Georgia’s prison system — because none of them should be invisible.
Georgia’s prison system remains one of the deadliest in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 findings report concluded that Georgia prisons are experiencing “among the most severe violations of constitutional rights in the nation.” Yet the state provides little transparency about how many people are dying — or why.
Families often learn of a loved one’s death days or even weeks later. Causes of death are frequently omitted, delayed, or misclassified. And official GDC numbers rarely match what prisoners, whistleblowers, or hospital staff report.
That is why GPS maintains this page. Every death listed here represents a human life, and every entry reflects the failures of a system that neither protects nor rehabilitates the people in its custody.
Many of these deaths were violent. Many were medical neglect. Some are from or complicated by nutritional deficiencies. Some remain unexplained.
But none of them should be invisible.
In 2025, the GDC reported 301 deaths but only identified 295. Six people died in state custody with no name, facility, or cause ever disclosed. Read: The Six Who Disappeared
You can search our database and export the data.
Deaths by Cause
Deaths by Year
Top Facilities
| Date | Name | Facility | Age | Cause |
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Note on Cause of Death Data: The Georgia Department of Corrections routinely withholds, delays, or misclassifies cause of death information. The “Unknown/Pending” category includes deaths where GDC has not disclosed the cause — many of which are believed to be homicides or suicides based on independent reporting by GPS, the AJC, and other sources. The true number of homicides and suicides in Georgia’s prisons is almost certainly higher than what is shown here.
In Memory
Behind every row in this table is a person who was loved, missed, and deserved safety and dignity.
We keep this record so their names are not forgotten — and so Georgia cannot continue to hide the true cost of its prison system.
GPS updates this record regularly as new information becomes available. If you have information about a death not listed here — or corrections to existing entries — please contact us so we can document it accurately.
Related Investigations & Resources
These deaths are part of a much larger pattern of violence, medical neglect, and state-level cover-ups.
Lethal Negligence: The Hidden Death Toll
How homicides, suicides, and “unknown causes” are deliberately concealed through misclassification and delayed autopsies.
The Truth About Washington State Prison
Staff complicity, gang-controlled dorms, and a pattern of preventable murders and medical neglect.
Left for Dead: Jamie Shahan
A young man who begged for medical care before dying of entirely preventable causes.
Buried Truth: Roy Mason Morris
A family not notified for two months — and a burial site the state cannot identify.
Your Rights When an Inmate Dies
Autopsy rights, death certificates, notifications, and what to do when the prison refuses to give answers.
In and Out: Lives Destroyed by the GDC
The story of Almir Harris and others who died from medical neglect while staff watched.
A Simple Message for the GDC
Core structural failures that fuel Georgia’s prison violence crisis — and realistic solutions the state refuses to adopt.
The Deterrence Myth
How Georgia’s “tough on crime” era increased violence, overcrowding, and rising mortality rather than reducing it.
Report a death in custody or explore more GPS data and coverage.