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Adams, Chequita
Status: active
Profile written August 9, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
GPS records show Chequita Adams rose through a series of administrative staff positions inside the Georgia Department of Corrections before being appointed Deputy Warden of Administration at Hancock State Prison on January 16, 2026. She began her GDC career in human resources at Augusta State Medical Prison in 2020, moved to the Northwest Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Center as an HR tech in 2021, then held financial‑generalist and accounting‑technician roles at Baldwin State Prison in 2023 and 2024. According to GPS data, no deaths are attributed to any facility she served before 2026. Four deaths occurred at Hancock State Prison during Adams’ current tenure as deputy warden, all of them within her first three months in that post.What happened on their watch
Hancock State Prison (Deputy Warden of Administration, Jan 16 2026–present)
Adams assumed the deputy warden role four days after a brawl at Hancock sent at least two inmates to the hospital. On January 12, a mass stabbing with shanks left five prisoners injured, two of whom were airlifted out — a sign of the chronic violence at a prison where, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution later reported, 73.5 % of correctional‑officer jobs were vacant and just 49 officers were supposed to supervise more than 1,100 prisoners.Within nine days of Adams’ start, the first death occurred: Steven Monroe Wood, 54, was discovered beaten in his cell on the night of Saturday, January 25. He was taken first to a local hospital, then transferred to an Augusta trauma center, where he died the next day; the Union‑Recorder described the attack as a physical assault by another inmate. The GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation.
Just under two weeks later, on February 6, Jaylin Bell, 32, was killed by his cellmate in a segregation unit, according to a contemporaneous inmate report gathered by GPS. Jerrod Johnson, 27, was fatally stabbed on February 18. Jacorey Derrelle Pearson, 36, died on April 7; the GDC has released no cause of death, but the agency’s standard procedure triggered yet another internal investigation. GPS records categorize all four deaths as homicides.
During Adams’ tenure, intelligence reports continued to flag violence and gang activity at the prison: GPS telemetry from March 24 documented an attack by Gangster Disciples on Crips in a dormitory, and an April 19 alert described a stabbing in the visitation area. The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution has tied the prison’s high homicide count to its extreme staffing shortage — a problem documented system‑wide by a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found a “culture of indifference” allowing staggering violence and sexual assault throughout Georgia’s correctional facilities. No lawsuits name Adams as a defendant, but the deaths on her watch unfolded inside the very conditions that federal investigators and the AJC had repeatedly flagged.
Litigation
No lawsuits in which Chequita Adams is named as a defendant appear in GPS records.Sources
- GPS death records and personnel data — career history, four deaths at Hancock State Prison (Steven Wood, Jaylin Bell, Jerrod Johnson, Jacorey Pearson)
- Union‑Recorder — “Hancock State Prison inmate dies from beating in cell,” Jan 25 2026 (details of Wood’s fatal assault)
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — reporting on Hancock SP staffing crisis, gang‑related deaths, and 2024 DOJ findings (multiple articles dated 2025‑2026)
- 41NBC — “GDC inmate dies at Hancock State Prison,” Feb 6 2026 (Jaylin Bell’s death following roommate altercation)
- GPS intel submissions — Telegram‑derived alerts of dormitory gang violence (Mar 24 2026) and visitation‑area stabbing (Apr 19 2026)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden of Administration | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2026-01-16 → present |
| ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN 3 | 2025-01-01 → present | |
| ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN 3 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| FINANCIAL OPS GENERALIST 3 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| FINANCIAL OPS GENERALIST 2 | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| HR TECH 2 | NORTHWEST RESIDENTIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT CENTER | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| Human Resources Tech | AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
4 people died at facilities under Adams, Chequita's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-07 | JACOREY DERRELLE PEARSON | 36 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-02-18 | JERROD JOHNSON | 27 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-02-06 | JAYLIN BELL | 32 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-01-25 | STEVEN MONROE WOOD | 54 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Administration |
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