Brown, Sonja D

Tenure Summary

Sonja D. Brown's GDC record opens with a year as a Correctional Officer at Johnson State Prison in 2001 and a year as a Counselor at Central State Prison in 2004, then moves into social services: Lead Social Service Program Consultant (SSPC 3) in 2011, a "SOC SVCS PROG CONSUL (WL)" post in 2015, and Social Services Program Consultant 3 in year-by-year salary records from 2016 through 2022, ending at $48,507.24. She returned to facility administration as Deputy Warden at McRae Women's Facility in 2023 and 2024 — salary rising from $53,943.24 to $69,525.82 — and then at Riverbend Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility from January 1 to August 31, 2025, at $74,324.67, while also carrying Regional Operations Coordinator (from July 16, 2025) and Private Prison Monitor (from September 1, 2025) titles at Riverbend.

She is listed as Warden at Central State Prison from June 1, 2026, with an additional "Warden 1" record dated August 27, 2026. Her personnel record lists her status as active; no other status is recorded with a source.

Per GPS's death registry, five deaths are attributed to her leadership tenures, all of them at Central State Prison while she held the Warden role there. The records contain no lawsuit naming her as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden, McRae Women's Facility (2023–2024). Brown's listed posting at McRae ran across the 2023 and 2024 salary years, with a separate Deputy Warden record dated November 22, 2023. The records attribute no deaths to that posting.

Deputy Warden, Riverbend Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility (January 1 – August 31, 2025). One intel event is dated inside this posting: a record dated May 17, 2025 — filed under Riverbend's facility ID, though the entry's title names Telfair State Prison — describing Jason Palmer being placed in segregation, denied adequate food, and having phone access blocked for months. The records attribute no deaths to this posting.

Warden, Central State Prison (from June 1, 2026). All five attributed deaths fall here, per GPS's death registry:

• Richard Palmer died June 2, 2026, at Central State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending and his age as 57.
• Raemonte Gentale Harris died July 3, 2026, at Central State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending and his age as 39.
• Mickey Barrett died July 11, 2026, at Central State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical and his age as 64.
• Demetris Raynard Keller died July 17, 2026, at Central State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending and his age as 38.
• Steve Allen Burk died July 20, 2026, at Central State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide and his age as 38.

Three inmate case submissions filed while Brown held the Warden role describe conditions around those dates. A submission dated June 2, 2026 — the same date as Palmer's registry entry — reports a death at Central State Prison after which video of the body circulated on social media and a tactical/incident response team was visible in the affected housing unit for several hours. A submission dated July 9, 2026 reports two separate stabbings during a lockdown, with the source attributing heightened tension to officers. A submission dated July 11, 2026 — the same date as Barrett's entry — describes a death initially reported as a heart attack. The records do not state that any of these submissions refer to the same deaths as the registry entries.

On October 15, 2026, per the Bibb County Sheriff's Office inmate search, a Zacarra Oliver was booked into the Bibb County jail on charges of sexual contact with a person in custody by a law enforcement employee or agent (O.C.G.A. 16-6-5.1(b)(3), a felony) and trading with inmates without the warden's consent (O.C.G.A. 42-5-16); she has been charged, not convicted. 13WMAZ reported the warrants allege she had sexual intercourse with a Central State Prison inmate and illegally gave him food, and GDC's August 2026 staff roster lists a Zacarra Oliver as an Accounting Technician 3 at Central State Prison.

Sources

• GPS death registry — five deaths at Central State Prison, 2026
• GPS case submissions — three inmate reports dated June 2, July 9, and July 11, 2026
• 13WMAZ — report on arrest warrants for a GDC accounting technician at Central State Prison
• Bibb County Sheriff's Office inmate search — October 15, 2026 booking and charges
• Georgia Department of Corrections staff roster, August 2026 — listing of Zacarra Oliver as Accounting Technician 3
• Georgia Department of Corrections position and salary records, 2001–2026 — Brown's postings at Johnson State Prison, Central State Prison, McRae Women's Facility, and Riverbend Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 18, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.