WASHINGTON STATE PRISON

Last updated August 30, 2026.(DS)

Washington State Prison

Washington State Prison in Davisboro is a medium-security facility for adult male felons that opened in 1991. With a rated capacity of 1,548 beds, it houses both minimum- and medium-custody prisoners in dormitories and cellblocks, plus segregation and support units. The prison provides work details for surrounding communities and limited educational, vocational, and faith-based programming. As of the most recent GPS snapshot, the facility held 1,215 men — roughly 78.5% of rated capacity — under Warden Veronica M. Stewart, who has led the facility since June 2024.

GPS's mortality database records 39 deaths at Washington State Prison since tracking began in 2020. Thirteen of those deaths are classified as homicides, nine as natural or medical, seven as unknown or pending, six as overdoses, and one as medical neglect. The facility's death record is not evenly distributed: after a single death in 2020 and none in 2021, the count climbed to eight in 2022, six in 2023, five in 2024, ten in 2025, and nine in the first half of 2026 alone. The deadliest single week in the facility's recorded history came in January 2026, when five men died between January 9 and January 17.

The January 2026 Gang-War Riot

On January 11, 2026, a gang war erupted at Washington State Prison during visiting hours. Multiple fights broke out around 1:25 p.m., spilling from a sidewalk into the visitation area. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the disturbance began among several inmates and escalated rapidly; prison staff deployed non-lethal weapons and regained control by approximately 3:00 p.m. Three men were killed at the scene: Jimmy Trammell, 42, serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree burglary out of Fulton County and days from release; Ahmod Hatcher, 23, serving 20 years for aggravated assault out of Richmond County; and Teddy Jackson, 27, serving 10 years for aggravated assault out of Bibb County. Thirteen additional inmates were transported to local hospitals, and one correctional officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

A fourth man, Silas Westbrook, 42, was initially treated for minor injuries at the prison. He was transferred to Metro Reentry Facility, where he suffered a medical emergency upon arrival on January 17 and was pronounced dead. The GDC's Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation into his death. GPS's mortality database classifies Westbrook's death as a homicide.

The riot was preceded by the death of Dajhmere Hall, 30, who was found dead at the facility on January 9 — two days before the riot — from an overdose. GPS's mortality database records Hall's cause of death as overdose, and GPS's own reporting has documented his death. Together, Hall, Jackson, Hatcher, Trammell, and Westbrook constitute a five-death week that GPS's investigative coverage, published January 16, 2026 under the title "They Knew: Empty Posts, Broken Locks, and Georgia's Deadliest Prison Week," placed at the center of its analysis of the riot.

The GDC characterized the disturbance as "gang-affiliated," though the agency's own communications described the gang link as suspected. Sheriff Joel Cochran confirmed two inmate deaths in the immediate aftermath and reported the facility under control. The GDC conducted a head count to ensure all prisoners were accounted for. Washington State Prison was placed on lockdown the day after the disturbance and, per GPS's reporting, never reopened — remaining on continuous lockdown for more than five months.

Six Officers on Duty

The single most damning fact about the January 11 riot is the staffing level at the moment it began. GPS's open-records production from the GDC shows that six officers were on duty at Washington State Prison when the gang war broke out. The facility holds more than 1,200 men across dormitories and cellblocks.

This figure aligns with the systemic staffing collapse GPS has documented across the Georgia prison system. 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%. GPS's systemic finding — corroborated by the October 2024 DOJ findings letter and the Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment — is that understaffing has enabled gangs to effectively run multiple facilities, controlling access to phones, showers, food, and bed assignments. The DOJ explicitly faulted GDC for placing "too much blame on gangs and insufficient emphasis on understaffing."

At Washington State Prison specifically, inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a facility where it has been routine for as few as one officer to supervise all three East-side housing units — E, F, and G — especially on weekends and holidays. Multiple witnesses report that security threat groups control cell assignments, that non-affiliated inmates are forced to live in showers, under stairs, in TV rooms, or on the floors of other inmates' cells, and that gang members with free-movement job assignments receive advance warning of shakedowns. GPS records show 37 assault-by-inmate signals across six months from December 2025 through July 2026, with 12 sources reporting in January 2026 alone — the month of the riot.

The Aftermath: Arrests, Charges, and a Facility That Never Reopened

Three days after the riot, on approximately January 14, 2026, Washington State Prison officer Adriana Carnelio, 27, was arrested by the GBI and the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force. Carnelio was charged with possession of cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, plus firearms offenses. Her co-defendant was identified as Q. Peacock. The arrest of a correctional officer on drug trafficking charges three days after a gang-war riot at the same facility underscores the staff-corruption dimension of the violence.

In April 2026, the GDC announced that twelve inmates had been charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation, and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution in connection with the January 11 disturbance. The charges were reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13WMAZ, and WFXL. The GDC's investigation remained active as of late April 2026.

The facility's response to the riot has drawn sharp criticism. GPS analysis indicates that uninvolved inmates were subjected to lockdowns that denied them access to television, news, visitation, exercise, phones, the law library, and religious services. A $30 per week commissary spending cap was imposed on inmates not involved in the violence, while certain incarcerated individuals — including those with free-movement job assignments — were permitted $80 weekly commissary purchases. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a commissary resale operation that ran among inmates after the disturbance, generating over $1,000 in weekly profit. GPS has received recurring reports that the lockdown functioned as collective punishment of the remaining population.

The June 2026 Death Cluster

Five months after the riot, Washington State Prison recorded another cluster of deaths. On June 13, 2026, Courtney Davis, 43, serving 10 years for aggravated battery, died at the facility. The GDC reported no signs of foul play or altercation; his cause of death was listed as undetermined. On June 14, 2026, Isreal Moses Jones, 68, serving 47 years for armed robbery, died. The GDC again reported no signs of altercation or foul play, with cause of death undetermined. Both bodies were turned over to the county coroner and taken to the GBI Crime Lab. The GDC's Office of Professional Standards opened investigations into both deaths, which the department described as standard procedure.

Nine days earlier, on June 9, 2026, Deshawn Poole, 34, died at Washington State Prison. GPS's mortality database classifies Poole's death as a homicide. GPS has recorded recurring reports of deaths at the facility in June 2026, with seven death-in-custody signals from seven distinct sources that month alone.

Medical Neglect and the Cancellation of Physician Orders

Beneath the violence and the staffing collapse runs a persistent pattern of medical neglect at Washington State Prison. GPS's mortality database records one death at the facility classified as medical neglect. But the broader pattern is documented in recurring accounts from incarcerated people and their families, corroborated across multiple sources.

The most detailed and persistent thread concerns a nurse practitioner at the facility who, according to GPS internal analysis, has been cancelling physician-ordered care for an incarcerated person since at least 2024. Inmate witnesses report that this nurse practitioner cancelled an incarcerated person's prescriptions for immunosuppressants, vitamins, and a respiratory medication; cancelled a physician's order for a shower chair, stating the facility does not provide such equipment; cancelled an incarcerated person's orthotic shoe profile immediately after the shoes were provided; and cancelled diet snacks for inmates not requiring insulin after a lockdown. A doctor at the facility reportedly stated that the nurse practitioner was responsible for cancelling medical orders. Family members report that a nurse practitioner altered an incarcerated person's cardiac medications without an examination or EKG, and that an incarcerated person was without prescribed heart medication for two months.

The pattern extends beyond a single provider. Inmate witnesses report that incarcerated people at Washington State Prison experienced gaps of one to two weeks without medication during 2025; that diabetic inmates have experienced gaps of up to 10 days in their medications; that all diabetic prisoners are given insulin twice daily at set times, regardless of mealtimes or blood sugar levels; and that the average number of requests needed to receive a response from medical is three. A medical provider at the facility reportedly stated that cost-cutting had eliminated two provider positions, and that the provider's own position might be next. In early 2025, the facility lacked upper-level medical providers and treating RNs, after previously having one MD and two PA/NPs. GPS has received recurring reports of medical neglect at the facility, with seven medical-neglect signals across six months from January through August 2026.

Food, Commissary, and the Physical Plant

Physical evidence submitted to GPS shows a meal served at Washington State Prison consisting of rice with a tomato-based sauce in a styrofoam bowl. Physical documentation from the facility shows a commissary restriction notice imposing spending caps and item-level limits on incarcerated persons, including per-order limits on drink mixes, cupcakes, pies, cookies, meat items, rice, soup, chips, candy bars, water, and soda. Family members report that incarcerated individuals rely on commissary purchases to supplement inadequate meals, and that the restrictions have left them with inadequate food access.

These facility-level accounts sit within a systemic pattern GPS has documented across GDC kitchens. 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 — 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.

The Georgia Department of Public Health's food-safety inspection scores for Washington State Prison tell a superficially reassuring story: a 77 (Grade C) on June 29, 2023, followed by scores of 88, 97, 95, 94, 98, 91, and 91 across 2023–2025. But GPS's systemic finding is that DPH inspection scores systematically fail to capture food-service sanitation failure across GDC kitchens, because inspections are scheduled walkthroughs that do not assess equipment under load. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a facility where staff have access to bottled water while incarcerated individuals are provided tap water alleged to be contaminated, and where GPS has received reports of blue water contamination forcing inmates to drink contaminated water.

The physical plant itself is deteriorating. Family members report roofing problems, housing structures in a state of deterioration, sleeping bunks in deteriorated condition, ceiling sections falling in, and black mold on shower walls. Inmate witnesses report that the garment factory lacks air conditioning and reaches temperatures over 100 degrees during the summer. GPS records show five equipment-failure-or-install signals across five months from December 2025 through July 2026, and five inadequate-climate signals concentrated in June and July 2026.

Classification Drift and Gang Control

Washington State Prison is classified as a medium-security facility, but GPS has documented a systemic pattern of classification drift across Georgia's prisons: medium-security facilities operating as close-security facilities without adequate staffing and infrastructure. At Washington State Prison, inmate witnesses report that a significant percentage of the medium-security facility's population is classified at the higher close-security level, and that individuals serving life sentences for violent offenses have been classified as medium security without clear explanation.

The consequences of this drift are visible in the facility's gang dynamics. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a facility where security threat groups control a significant percentage of cells in housing units, where gang members have bribed staff to be moved from general population units to preferred housing units, and where virtually all inmates with free-movement job assignments — barbers, recreation aides, orderlies — are STG members or close associates. GPS analysis indicates that facility leadership has allowed a gang to control most dorms and the compound, and that leadership currently assigns Bloods gang members to almost all positions with free movement around the prison. GPS records show that all stabbings at the facility in recent years have reportedly involved members of a single gang.

The January 2026 riot was, by multiple accounts, the predictable outcome of these conditions. Former inmates told 13WMAZ that the riot was the predictable outcome of years of neglect, understaffing, and lost opportunities inside Georgia's prison system. Earl White, a former inmate quoted by 13WMAZ, alleged that dorms house more than 50 men with just two televisions, no education programs, no job training, no recreation, mold in showers, rats, insects, poor medical care, and sometimes spoiled food. Another former inmate, identified as Brandon, alleged that Washington State Prison was the worst prison he attended, describing it as a dangerous environment where people carry and use deadly knives daily with no intervention.

The Broader Mortality Record

The January and June 2026 death clusters are not anomalies. GPS's mortality database records a sustained pattern of violent death at Washington State Prison stretching back years. Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died August 9, 2024, from multiple sharp force injuries to the torso, head, and neck. Jacob Cole Henson, 31, died April 23, 2024, from multiple gunshot wounds after getting into a fight with a GDC officer who had taken him to a hospital to be treated for injuries from a stabbing earlier that day. Michael Lee Jackson, 60, died August 17, 2022, from multiple blunt force injuries in the setting of hypertensive cardiovascular disease; an incident report shows two other inmates were involved. Marquis Reshawn Jefferson, 26, died May 12, 2022, from stab wounds to the torso and arm; an incident report dated May 11, 2022, indicates four other inmates were involved.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's homicide-tracking coverage documented these deaths. GPS's mortality database classifies thirteen deaths at the facility as homicides since 2020. The facility's death count has risen sharply in recent years: from one death in 2020 and none in 2021, to eight in 2022, six in 2023, five in 2024, ten in 2025, and nine in the first half of 2026.

Contraband, Corruption, and the Drug Economy

Washington State Prison has been a hub for contraband-driven criminal enterprise. In May 2026, a federal investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation resulted in the indictment of Luis Alfonso Ramirez and six accomplices for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Ramirez directed the drug trafficking network from Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones. The operation involved the seizure of 35 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3.5 kilograms of fentanyl valued at $225,000, plus $145,000 in cash. WGXA reported the indictment.

Ramirez is not the first Washington State Prison inmate to run a drug network from inside. Jeffery White, serving a 20-year sentence, led a methamphetamine network believed to have distributed more than 200 pounds of crystal meth in Volusia County, Florida in one year; nearly 40 arrest warrants were issued. The AJC reported the case in September 2024.

The contraband economy is enabled by staff corruption. GPS records show twelve staff-misconduct-alleged-named signals across six months from December 2025 through July 2026, and ten staff-misconduct-alleged-unnamed signals across five months. Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe correctional officers who solicited payments via mobile payment apps, who allowed gang members to move freely between housing units, and who stood by while inmates passed contraband including knives. GPS analysis indicates that a correctional officer at the facility may have been receiving payments from both the Bloods and Muslims gangs. The arrest of Officer Adriana Carnelio on drug trafficking charges three days after the January riot is the most concrete public confirmation of this pattern.

Leadership and Accountability

Warden Veronica M. Stewart has led Washington State Prison since June 16, 2024. GPS's reporting has documented concerns about her appointment: she was promoted through security ranks without documented leadership training, according to GPS's own investigative coverage. The facility's deputy wardens include Tamishia V. Whipple (since January 2024), Tywanda F. King (Deputy Warden of Administration, since August 2026), Tamara Grier (Deputy Warden of Security, since November 2025), Tarra L. Tomlin Jackson (since January 2021), and Helen R. Dogan (since January 2016).

Commissioner Tyrone Oliver announced Grier's appointment as Deputy Warden of Security in November 2025, citing her more than 22 years of experience in Georgia's correctional system. Grier's appointment came two months before the January 2026 riot.

Inmate accounts collected by GPS describe a facility where the warden was reportedly present during a gang-related incident in 2025 in which one group of incarcerated people assaulted another, stole their property, and forced them out of the housing unit; where a warden watched a football game while a housing unit was locked down in December 2025; and where a warden visited a housing unit shortly before a serious incident in 2026, failed to ensure a group of incarcerated people were securely locked down, and left the scene. GPS has received recurring reports that officials did not take action in response to safety concerns about inmates in a housing unit, and that a warning about a specific incarcerated person was communicated to a Regional Director and ignored.

The facility's response to family concerns has been characterized by non-responsiveness. Family members report that emails to the GDC Ombudsman regarding Washington State Prison received no response; that calls to the facility are rarely answered, and when they are, staff instruct the caller to call back later and then disconnect; and that visits are frequently canceled with minimal notice, sometimes with only one day's notice. GPS records show nine external-complaint-filed signals across five months from January through August 2026, with complaints directed to the DOJ Civil Rights Division, the GBI, the GDC Assistant Commissioner, the GDC Ombudsman, State Representative Billy Hitchens, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Systemic Context

Washington State Prison's crises are not facility-isolated. They are the local expression of systemic failures GPS has documented across the Georgia prison system. The October 2024 DOJ findings letter concluded that sexual assault is "rampant" in GDC facilities, that GDC does not reasonably protect incarcerated people from sexual harm, and that "the leadership of the Georgia Department of Corrections has lost control of its facilities." The DOJ found that Georgia prison officials are "deliberately indifferent" to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion, and sexual abuse at state lockups. The Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment, commissioned by Governor Brian Kemp, independently concluded that gangs effectively run multiple facilities.

State Rep. Billy Hitchens, quoted by 41NBC, alleged the prison system is not making meaningful progress toward preventing inmates from jamming or disabling cell-door locks, which allows inmates to roam freely and commit attacks. The AJC reported that buildings with maintenance issues enabled prisoners to strip materials to make weapons, that locks didn't work allowing easy cell escapes, and that understaffing left movements unmonitored. Top Georgia lawmakers allocated more than $600 million in new funding to the GDC to add staffing positions, improve salaries, and tackle a backlog of maintenance projects including repairing locks.

GPS has independently tracked 1,887 deaths in GDC custody system-wide since 2020. Washington State Prison's 39 deaths — 13 of them homicides — represent a disproportionate share of that toll for a single medium-security facility.

Sources

This analysis draws on reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13WMAZ, WGXA, 41NBC, WFXL, and The Marshall Project; GPS's own investigative coverage, including the January 16, 2026 report "They Knew: Empty Posts, Broken Locks, and Georgia's Deadliest Prison Week"; Georgia Department of Public Health food-safety inspection records; GDC open-records productions; federal court filings; the October 2024 DOJ findings letter; the Guidehouse 2024 consultant assessment; GPS's mortality database; and inmate and family accounts collected by GPS staff.