HAYS STATE PRISON

Last updated August 29, 2026.(DS)

Hays State Prison: Violence, Contraband, and a System Under Strain

Hays State Prison in Trion, Chattooga County, opened in 1990 as a close-security men's facility that the Georgia Department of Corrections describes as housing some of the state's "most challenging offenders." The facility includes several general-population dorms, a Fast Track unit, multiple Tier II special-management dorms, an outside fire station and infirmary, and large numbers of Level-II mental-health beds. Its original design capacity was 448; its current rated capacity is 1,101, and GPS data shows a population of 1,103 — operating at 100.2% of rated capacity, more than double what the facility was built to hold. Christopher McAllister serves as Deputy Warden of Security, a position he assumed on July 5, 2026.

The facility has been the site of repeated homicides and assaults, and has been repeatedly cited for failures in lock security, staffing, and protection of prisoners in so-called protective custody. GPS's mortality database records 35 deaths at Hays State Prison since 2020 — nine of them homicides, six natural or medical, one accident, and nineteen still pending or unknown cause. The most recent deaths include Melvin Gay Johnson, 35, who died on January 27, 2026 and is classified as a homicide; Barcel Roylee Ward, 39, who died on November 28, 2025 with cause pending; and James Cannon, 48, who died on October 25, 2025, also classified as a homicide.

A Body Count That Keeps Climbing

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has documented a string of fatal stabbings at Hays State Prison stretching back years. Freddie Lee Talley, 31, died on May 6, 2024 from a stab wound to the chest; incident reports record a murder involving four other prisoners and multiple sharpened weapons ranging from 10.5 to 22 inches. Officers recovered seven weapons ranging in length from 9 to 22 inches. Three inmates received disciplinary reports but had not been charged as of the AJC's reporting.

Jeremy Edward Price, 36, died on March 2, 2024 from stab wounds to the neck and chest, classified as a homicide in incident reports and confirmed by his death certificate. His mother, Tammy Price, told the AJC she still does not know what happened to her child, and has alleged the GDC is hiding its inability to protect prisoners from harm by omitting manner-of-death information from mortality reports.

The pattern extends further back. Talore Stihles Blackford, 31, died on October 28, 2023 from multiple stab wounds to the neck. Quintez Smith, 25, died on August 29, 2022 from multiple sharp force injuries. Jorge Renberto Ventura-Cabrera, 35, died on June 5, 2021 from stab wounds to neck, torso and upper extremities; an incident report shows two other inmates were involved. Anthony L. McGhee Jr., 34, died on March 29, 2020 from complications of blunt force head trauma and sharp force trauma of torso and extremities.

GPS's own reporting has documented that Melvin Johnson was beaten to death at Hays State Prison on January 25, 2026 after being returned to a dorm despite safety concerns — accounts describe a counselor sending him back to a dangerous dorm against his request, after which he was beaten brain-dead and died on life support. GPS records show six distinct sources reporting assault-by-inmate allegations at the facility between April and July 2026, with severity ratings ranging from moderate to critical.

The Blood-on-Blood War Reaches Inside

On April 1, 2026, coordinated Blood-on-Blood gang violence erupted across Georgia's prison system. At least twelve prisons locked down, life flights were dispatched to two facilities, and stabbings were confirmed at five. At Hays State Prison, a man described by sources as a high-ranking leader of a Blood ROLACC set was attacked during an official inspection — stabbed in the neck multiple times in front of the warden and prison staff, requiring CPR. GPS reporting on the incident describes the retaliation as immediate and system-wide.

The gang violence at Hays did not begin in 2026. GPS has documented that Pippa Hall-Jackson, a 19-year-old, was stabbed to death at the facility in February 2013 in a gang-related mistaken identity incident. In late 2012 and early 2013, three homicides occurred within one month at Hays, and a correctional officer was stabbed 22 times and survived. A 2012 audit found approximately 42% of cell-door locks at Hays were non-functional or easily defeated — a finding the Guidehouse 2024 assessment confirmed as part of a systemwide pattern of deferred maintenance that GPS treats as a force multiplier for violence.

Staff Smuggling and the Contraband Pipeline

The AJC has documented multiple cases of Hays State Prison staff smuggling contraband to incarcerated people. Lieutenant Lakeshia Thomas was recorded arranging to bring marijuana in for Gangster Disciples member Jarico Deshun Brown; the GBI uncovered evidence in 2019, and she pleaded guilty in April 2022, receiving a 15-year sentence with two years to serve in confinement.

A former guard at Hays State Prison was sentenced after federal officials announced the guard had smuggled methamphetamine and other contraband to inmates for over a month. Officer Voltaire Pierre received $7,000 during a four-month period in 2018 for bringing in pot, cocaine, and meth in noodle soup containers, and was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

These cases sit within a broader pattern the AJC has documented: more than 425 GDC employee arrests since 2018 for on-the-job crimes. GPS's systemic findings place this in context — 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%, and the October 2024 DOJ findings letter explicitly concluded that "the leadership of the Georgia Department of Corrections has lost control of its facilities."

Food Safety Scores and What They Hide

The Georgia Department of Public Health conducted ten routine food-safety inspections at Hays State Prison between August 2023 and November 2025, with scores ranging from 83 to 97. The most recent inspections, on November 18, 2025, produced scores of 87 (Grade B) and 92 (Grade A), with violations including food separation and protection, proper eating and drinking practices, and food-contact surface sanitation. Earlier inspections cited improper hot and cold holding temperatures, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper cooling methods.

GPS's systemic findings, however, document that DPH inspection scores systematically fail to capture food-service sanitation failures across GDC kitchens. The pattern includes tray-sanitizing dishwashers broken for sustained periods, sustained roach and rodent infestation in kitchen and serving areas, and meals served on visibly contaminated trays. GDC spends approximately $1.69 per person per day on food — under 60 cents per meal — versus the FDA Thrifty Food Plan estimate of roughly $10 per day for an adult man's nutritionally adequate 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.

Liability Payouts and the Cost of Failure

The Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger, obtained through open records, shows eleven liability payouts tied to Hays State Prison incidents between 2011 and 2022. The largest was $650,000 to Charles L. Broady Jr. for a 2017 incident. Other significant payouts include $215,000 to Estaban Mosqueda Romero (2014), $80,000 to Joshua Blash (2016), $65,000 to Monica Rodriguez (2016), $35,000 to Synita Hudgins (2022), $29,000 to Cecelia Carson (2020), $23,000 to Alexander Williams (2019), and $15,000 to Travarus Smith (2017). Smaller payouts of $5,000, $450, and $250 went to Uriah Raheem, Ricky Bernard McCoy, and Deborah Martin as agent for Kendrick R. Martin respectively.

These settlements represent the state's acknowledgment of liability — not criminal findings — but they trace a decade-long pattern of incidents serious enough to warrant taxpayer-funded payouts.

Sources

This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Marshall Project; Georgia Department of Public Health inspection records; the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records; GPS's own mortality database and investigative reporting; and inmate and family accounts collected by GPS staff.