Beasley, Jacob

Tenure Summary

Jacob Beasley's career in the Georgia Department of Corrections, per the personnel records behind this page, began as a correctional officer at Rogers State Prison in 2007, followed by a sergeant posting there in 2009. He then held a lieutenant term (2012) and a unit manager term (2014) at Telfair State Prison; a "Correction Administration" line in 2015; a CSM correctional sergeant term at Telfair in 2016; and a CSM correctional lieutenant term at Valdosta State Prison in 2017. He entered facility leadership as deputy warden at Hays State Prison in 2018, then served as deputy warden at Telfair (2019–2021) and Valdosta (2022), before becoming Warden 3 at Smith State Prison in 2023–2024. Since January 1, 2025 he has held the Warden 3/Warden role at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, listed as Warden from July 16, 2025 with no end date recorded. His status is listed as active, with no separately sourced status action attached.

GPS's registry attributes 42 deaths to his leadership tenures: 15 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, 14 at Telfair State Prison, 7 at Valdosta State Prison and 6 at Smith State Prison. He is named as a defendant in eight federal lawsuits.

What happened on their watch

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2021). Fourteen deaths are attributed to this tenure. GPS's registry dates them from March 2020, when Cedric La'Troy Johnson Sr. died at Telfair (strangulation, per the incident record), through August 17, 2021. Aldrich Norval Cain died April 23, 2020, of multiple stab wounds, four other inmates involved; Marcus Derrelle Pearson Jr. died May 29, 2020, of multiple stab wounds, two others involved; Luis Garcia Palacio died July 28, 2020, of blunt impact injuries to the head; Juan Carlos Arguelles-Reveles died May 7, 2021, from a stabbing, an incident report showing 11 other inmates involved. The remaining Telfair deaths in that span are Willie Ralph Wyatt (Sept. 28, 2020), Jerry Bolton (Sept. 29, 2020), Wright Greyhound Phoenix (Oct. 14, 2020), Wade Smith (Oct. 16, 2020), Robert William Myers (Nov. 5, 2020), John Anthony Pratt (Nov. 22, 2020), William Locust (Dec. 27, 2020), Jeremy Williams (March 16, 2021) and William Hiram Lumpkin (Aug. 17, 2021). The GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger records three state liability payouts tied to Telfair during this period: $1,850 to David Morris (April 6, 2021), $5,361 to Darryl Thomas (Sept. 29, 2021) and $2,600 to Derrell Ruth (Oct. 5, 2021). In 2021 Sen. Josh McLaurin and other legislators were turned away from a prison they showed up to tour unannounced.

Valdosta State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022). Seven deaths are attributed to this tenure: Terrance Robinson died November 12, 2022, at Valdosta State Prison, with GPS's registry listing the cause as Unknown/Pending; Dexter Jarrod Burnett died September 16, 2022, cause listed as Homicide; Darius Deshon Lowe died April 13, 2022, cause Unknown/Pending; Derick Joshua Ferrell died April 6, 2022, cause Unknown/Pending. Hakeem Olajuwon Williams, Wiley Tucker and Dewey Lavon Slayton also died at Valdosta during this posting, per GPS's registry. Incident records state Burnett died of a stab wound to the torso and that a prisoner was indicted in February 2024 on a charge of killing him with a homemade knife; a claim filed against the state alleged that Williams, who died of a stab wound to the chest, had been placed in a cell while handcuffed and was attacked by a cellmate. The GA DOAS settlement ledger lists a $1 payout to Jordan Hunter and $70 to Earl McClendon, both tied to Valdosta incidents in 2022.

Smith State Prison — Warden 3 (2023–2024). Six deaths are attributed to this tenure: Calvin Bernard Craft died December 14, 2024, at Smith State Prison, cause Unknown/Pending; Orlando Jordan died September 13, 2024, cause Unknown/Pending; Richard Jermine Williams died September 7, 2024, cause Overdose; Jaydrekus Cartez Hart died June 16, 2024, cause Suicide; Gineli Antoine Gray died February 9, 2024, cause Unknown/Pending; Donquerius Lamonte Mahone died February 4, 2024, cause Homicide. On June 16, 2024, Hart shot and killed Aramark food service employee Aureon Shavea Grace in the prison kitchen and then shot himself; investigators allege, per Georgia Public Broadcasting, that a drone smuggled the firearm. One record in the file dates Grace's death to May 25, 2024; the incident is otherwise recorded as June 16, 2024. GDC placed all its prisons on lockdown and cancelled visitations, and Gov. Brian Kemp announced a system-wide assessment with Guidehouse Inc. consultants. On June 21, 2024, correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, was killed after being assaulted by a prisoner with a homemade weapon; death certificate records show multiple stab wounds. Also recorded at Smith during this tenure: an AJC report that about two-thirds of correctional officer positions were unfilled; a Marshall Project account in which officer Andrew Phillips was the sole officer assigned to an area housing 600 men, with no functioning fire extinguishers, when inmates set mattresses on fire; and AJC allegations that inmate Nathan Weekes orchestrated murders from inside — including the mistaken-identity killing of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter — and that former warden Brian Adams took cash in a contraband scheme. The records name Adams, not Beasley, on those allegations.

Hays State Prison — Deputy Warden (2018). No deaths at Hays are attributed to this tenure in GPS's registry. The records note that Hays officer Voltaire Pierre was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for smuggling drugs, having received $7,000 over a four-month period in 2018.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Warden (2025–present). Fifteen deaths are attributed to this tenure. Shaun Corey Farrell died July 13, 2026, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. James Nelson Hall died July 2, 2026, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Leonel Cedillo died June 27, 2026, there; Unknown/Pending. Mark Rutledge died June 26, 2026, there; Homicide. Phillip Dwayne Rogers died June 14, 2026, there; Unknown/Pending. Terry Junie Marshall died March 2, 2026, there; Natural/Medical. James Thompson died February 6, 2026, there; Unknown/Pending. Christopher Lee died January 31, 2026, there; Natural/Medical. Novice H Langston died January 12, 2026, there; Natural/Medical. Trevone Lavelle Lovett died January 10, 2026, there; Natural/Medical. Juan Jose Rodriquez died December 10, 2025, there; Overdose. Tabaya Marshall Gray died November 27, 2025, there; Unknown/Pending. Charles Ramen Coppeak died November 19, 2025, there; Overdose. Christopher Wayne Crook died August 5, 2025, there; Unknown/Pending. Daniel Claude Callahan died July 26, 2025, there; Natural/Medical. GDC's Office of Professional Standards investigated Rutledge's death and sent the body to a GBI crime lab to determine cause. An October 24, 2025 incident record alleges systemic failure in death reporting and investigation — deaths deleted from an inmate database, no autopsy ordered and witness statements disappeared. Records here also carry the scheduled execution of Stacey Humphreys, set for December 17, 2025 and then for September 16, 2026, with clemency denied September 15, 2026 and a notice of appeal filed the same day; prior litigation over Board of Pardons and Paroles conflicts of interest, including a Fulton County judge's ruling that Board member Kimberly McCoy had a conflict. Per the AJC, officer Vera Jackson admitted receiving thousands of dollars to give death row inmate Eric Perkinson information on upcoming shakedowns and staff. A DOJ-linked case reported by WGXA names Deivon Waller, sentenced to 240 months and a $2,000 fine for conspiring to smuggle methamphetamine, marijuana and phones into Georgia prisons by drone; inmates Asa James Ward (56 months, $1,500) and Tristahn Ash (92 months, $1,500) were also sentenced. On March 5, 2026, Ronald Allen filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging medical neglect that resulted in amputation of his left hand and permanent damage to his right hand. A September 17, 2026 intel report relays former officer Kerri-Ann Crumbley's video describing GDC hiring and retention problems and things she could have done for an incarcerated patient being refused to her as against policy.

Litigation

• Grier v. Jacob Beasley, 1:25-cv-00074 (GAND), filed January 7, 2025 — pending.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191 (GAND), filed June 6, 2025 — terminated March 30, 2026.
• Hamilton v. Beasley, 6:25-cv-00057 (GASD), filed July 22, 2025 — pending.
• Miller v. Holt, 5:25-cv-00356 (GAMD), filed August 25, 2025 — pending.
• Humphreys v. Oliver, 1:25-cv-06100 (GAND), filed October 24, 2025 — terminated December 10, 2025.
• Humphreys v. Oliver, 1:25-cv-07012 (GAND), filed December 9, 2025 — terminated January 15, 2026.
• Jackson v. Beasley, 4:23-cv-00198 (GAMD), filed December 8, 2023 — terminated January 8, 2024.
• Pak v. Sprayberry, 4:21-cv-00113 (GAND), filed June 15, 2021 — terminated March 4, 2022.

No outcome amounts are recorded for any of these dockets.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Smith State Prison contraband, understaffing and the June 2024 shooting; death-row information case; Georgia prison corruption coverage
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — drone-smuggled firearm allegation and Senate committee testimony, August 2024
• The Marshall Project — officer staffing and conditions at Smith State Prison, January 2024
• WGXA — DOJ drone-smuggling prosecution of Deivon Waller
• WRDW and The Georgia Virtue — Humphreys clemency and Board conflict-of-interest proceedings
• Facebook — Human and Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia (share of officer Kerri-Ann Crumbley's video)
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — Telfair and Valdosta liability payouts
• Court records via CourtListener — the eight dockets listed above
• GPS death registry — dates and cause categories for the 42 deaths attributed across these tenures

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 4, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.