Agbaosi, Mark

Tenure Summary

Mark Agbaosi has spent at least fifteen years within the Georgia Department of Corrections, primarily at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP) in Jackson. Per GPS records, Agbaosi began as a Correctional Officer in 2010, returning to the same facility in 2015 and rising through the ranks — sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and unit manager — before being appointed Deputy Warden of GDCP in 2023. In early 2025, Agbaosi was promoted to Warden and transferred to Dooly State Prison in Unadilla, where he currently serves.

During Agbaosi's leadership-tenure roles — as Deputy Warden at GDCP (2023–2024) and Warden at Dooly (2025–present) — GPS records attribute a total of 57 deaths to the facilities under his command: 46 at GDCP and 11 at Dooly. Three federal civil rights lawsuits naming Agbaosi as a defendant were filed during this period, all of which remain pending. Two homicides at GDCP in 2023 were documented by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation, and multiple gang-related mass casualty incidents at Dooly prompted statewide prison lockdowns in 2026.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden — Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2023–2024):
GPS records attribute 46 deaths to GDCP during Agbaosi's tenure as Deputy Warden. The decedents whose names are available from the sample list range in age from 25 to 76. Among them, two deaths were categorized as homicides and documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Carrell D. Johnson, 32, died on June 6, 2023, from "chopping injuries of the head and sharp-force injuries of the torso," and Elmer W. Pless, 65, died of strangulation on May 15, 2023. During this period, the AJC also reported that Brandon Trace Burrell, 31, who died at GDCP on January 28, 2024, was "assaulted by another inmate while under the effects of methamphetamine, reportedly suffering numerous stab wounds." The facility itself operated under extreme overcrowding: GPS intel records note GDCP held approximately 4,540 incarcerated people in a facility originally designed for 800, or 568% of design capacity, with infrastructure — medical clinic, kitchen, showers, counseling — unchanged since 1968. A 2026 AJC report described almost every part of GDCP as vandalized with widespread infrastructure failures. During Agbaosi's deputy term, the AJC also reported that newly convicted inmate Shane Tassi "possessed a homemade shank and contraband cell phone within days of arriving," and that officer Vera Jackson had admitted to accepting thousands of dollars to provide a death row inmate with information on upcoming shakedowns.

Warden — Dooly State Prison (2025–present):
GPS records attribute 11 deaths to Dooly State Prison since Agbaosi became Warden. The decedents identified in the sample include Joshua Parrott, 45, who died by strangulation on January 12, 2025, and Horario Philmore, 58, listed as a "Homocide" on February 2, 2025. A user report submitted to GPS notes that Darrow Brown, 58, was "killed on the walk while being escorted back to his building" on November 7, 2025. Intel reports also cite a coroner’s allegation that Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta’s body may have gone undiscovered for more than 24 hours at the prison.

Multiple major incidents occurred at Dooly under Agbaosi's watch. On May 22, 2026, a gang-related altercation injured nine inmates, triggering a statewide lockdown of all GDC facilities, per GPS incident records. Earlier, on April 1, 2026, a gang-related fight sent six inmates to hospitals, three by Life Flight; on March 23, 2026, five inmates were injured in another dormitory fight. GPS intel reports also document a staffing collapse by late 2025, with housing units at Dooly left without officer supervision for hours or entire shifts, and the facility operating with a 50% statewide correctional officer vacancy rate while holding 1,593 people in a space designed for 750. In December 2025, a corrections officer cadet was arrested with 640 grams of pure methamphetamine intended for an inmate. An inmate named Abraham Rivas was charged in April 2026 with running a phone-based fraud scheme from inside the prison, impersonating a deputy; per WALB, Rivas claimed correctional staff were aware of similar scams.

Litigation

• Thrift v. Caldwell — Filed January 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (GAMD). Status: pending.
• Robertson v. Agbaosi — Filed February 25, 2025, in GAMD. Status: pending.
• Miller v. Holt — Filed August 25, 2025, in GAMD. Status: pending.

Sources

• GPS personnel and death-records database — career timeline, total deaths attributed (57), deaths by facility
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (Carrell D. Johnson, Elmer W. Pless deaths at GDCP; Brandon Trace Burrell death; infrastructure and contraband reports at GDCP; coroner allegation regarding Dooly death)
• GPS intelligence reports — allegations from WALB, Wesh.com, News-journalonline.com regarding Dooly inmate fraud scheme and staff awareness
• GPS incident-event records — gang-related fights, statewide lockdowns, staffing collapses, cadet meth smuggling arrest at Dooly; overcrowding and capacity data for GDCP and Dooly
• Federal court records via CourtListener — Thrift v. Caldwell, Robertson v. Agbaosi, Miller v. Holt filings

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jun 21, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.