Blackshear, Janice Denise

Tenure Summary

Janice Denise Blackshear first appears in GPS records as a correctional officer at Macon State Prison in 2007. She later held lieutenant posts at Central State Prison in 2014 and Burruss Correctional Training Center in 2015, served as chief of security at McEver Probation Detention Center in 2018, and worked as a unit manager at Central State Prison in 2019 and again from 2024 into 2025. GPS records list overlapping Central State unit-manager and deputy-warden postings from Jan. 1, 2025 through May 15, 2025; on May 16, 2025, Blackshear became Deputy Warden of Security at Central State Prison.

GPS records attribute 11 deaths to Blackshear, all at Central State Prison. No lawsuits naming Blackshear as a defendant appear in the structured records.

What happened on their watch

Blackshear’s earlier postings at Macon State Prison, Burruss Correctional Training Center, and McEver Probation Detention Center have no leadership-tier deaths attributed in GPS records.

At Central State Prison, the provided death records span from July 16, 2025 to July 20, 2026, and each record lists Blackshear’s role at the time as Deputy Warden of Security. Named decedents in the records include Ricky D. Ring, 56; James Theodore Miller, 64; Ronald Goss, 60; Joseph Hamm, 36; Miguel Angel Duran, 44; Michael Lane Brooks, 77; Richard Palmer, 57; Raemonte Gentale Harris, 39; Mickey Barrett, 64; Demetris Raynard Keller, 38; and Steve Allen Burk, 38. Among the provided records, seven carry GPS cause-category code 6, and one each carries codes 1, 2, 3, and 5.

GPS case notes include source-reported narratives rather than formal causes: Burk’s record states he was “Beaten To Death,” with a source note reading “Warden called me from the prison.” Hamm’s record describes an alleged accidental overdose involving a balloon of opiates that ruptured during a facility transfer. Duran’s record describes a reported suicide in the segregation unit. These accounts are allegations or source narratives in GPS records, not confirmed official findings.

Broader reporting associated with Central State Prison, where Blackshear holds the Deputy Warden of Security role, includes Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting on DOJ-related findings that Hollis Alan Bryant was stabbed to death and three prisoners were criminally charged, and that Marquis L. Johnson was stabbed in the prison barbershop. 13WMAZ reported that three former Central State guards were accused in March 2025 of beating an inmate and attempting a cover-up, and that a Central State guard faced charges in December 2025 after allegedly falsely imprisoning four Department of Family and Child Services employees. Georgia Public Broadcasting reporting asserts that severe staff shortages have allowed gang members to effectively run Georgia state prisons. The records do not allege that Blackshear personally participated in these incidents; they document events at the facility where she held senior security duties.

Sources

• GPS personnel, mortality, and case-management records for Janice Denise Blackshear
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — DOJ-based reporting on stabbing deaths at Central State Prison and homicide list
• 13WMAZ — reporting on former Central State guards accused in March 2025 beating and December 2025 guard false imprisonment
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — reporting on staffing shortages and gang influence in Georgia prisons

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 30, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.