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Blackshear, Janice Denise
Status: active
Profile written August 23, 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
Janice Denise Blackshear has held GDC roles since 2007, beginning as a correctional officer at Macon State Prison. She later served as a lieutenant at Central State Prison in 2014 and at Burruss C.T.C. in 2015, chief of security at McEver Probation Detention Center in 2018, and unit manager at Central State Prison in 2019, 2024, and into 2025. Records show she held overlapping unit manager and deputy warden titles at Central State Prison from January 1 to May 15, 2025, and has served as deputy warden of security there since May 16, 2025. GPS records attribute nine deaths to Blackshear’s leadership tenure, all at Central State Prison and all recorded during her deputy warden of security posting. The provided records list no lawsuits naming Blackshear as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Macon State Prison — Correctional Officer (2007). GPS records show no deaths attributed to this staff-level posting.
Burruss C.T.C. — Lieutenant (2015); McEver Probation Detention Center — Chief of Security (2018). GPS records show no deaths attributed to either posting.
Central State Prison — Lieutenant (2014), Unit Manager (2019, 2024, Jan–May 2025), Deputy Warden (Jan–May 2025), Deputy Warden of Security (May 2025–present).
The nine deaths attributed to Blackshear were recorded at Central State Prison between July 16, 2025, and July 20, 2026, while she held the deputy warden of security position. The decedents were Ricky D. Ring, James Theodore Miller, Joseph Hamm, Ronald Goss, Miguel Angel Duran, Michael Lane Brooks, Richard Palmer, Mickey Barrett, and Steve Allen Burk. Where ages were listed, they ranged from 36 to 77. GPS records contain a note describing Burk’s death as “Beaten To Death,” attributed to a call from the warden; a Telegram relay report flagged as AI-classified described Duran’s death as a suicide in the segregation unit; and a dorm resident’s account in GPS records described Hamm’s death as an accidental overdose after a balloon of opiates reportedly burst in his mouth. The remaining six death records carry no cause description in GPS records, though Palmer’s death was later confirmed on a GDC monthly mortality report that, per GPS records, listed no cause of death.
Reporting and allegations about Central State Prison include an Atlanta Journal-Constitution account of DOJ findings that Hollis Alan Bryant was stabbed to death and three other prisoners were criminally charged; the same AJC reporting described DOJ findings that Marquis L. Johnson was stabbed in the prison barbershop and later died. 13WMAZ reported that in March 2025 three former guards were accused of beating an inmate and attempting a cover-up, and separately reported that in December 2025 a guard faced charges after falsely imprisoning four DFCS employees over child support payments. These are allegations reported by outside sources and are separate from the nine deaths GPS attributes to Blackshear’s leadership tenure.
Sources
- GPS records — personnel positions, death records, and case-management notes
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on DOJ findings regarding Central State Prison violence
- 13WMAZ — reporting on Central State Prison guard misconduct allegations in 2025
- GDC monthly mortality report — referenced in GPS records for confirmation of Richard Palmer’s death
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden of Security | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2025-05-16 → present |
| Unit Manager | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| Unit Manager | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| Chief of Security | McEVER PROBATION DETENTION CENTER | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| Lieutenant | BURRUSS C.T.C | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Lieutenant | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2014-01-01 → 2014-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | MACON STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
9 people died at facilities under Blackshear, Janice Denise's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-20 | Steve Allen Burk | — | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2026-07-11 | Mickey Barrett | — | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2026-06-02 | Richard Palmer | 57 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2026-04-19 | MICHAEL LANE BROOKS | 77 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2026-03-01 | MIGUEL ANGEL DURAN | 44 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2025-10-23 | RONALD GOSS | 60 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2025-10-08 | JOSEPH HAMM | 36 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2025-09-22 | JAMES THEODORE MILLER | 64 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
| 2025-07-16 | RICKY D RING | 56 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Security |
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