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Bryant, Delisha L
Status: active
Profile written August 16, 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
Delisha L. Bryant entered GDC as a correctional officer at Autry State Prison in 2007. After CSM Correctional Unit Manager postings from 2019 through 2024 with no listed facility, GPS records place Bryant at Valdosta State Prison in 2025: first in overlapping Unit Manager and Deputy Warden roles from Jan. 1 to Mar. 15, 2025, then as Deputy Warden of Security beginning Mar. 16, 2025. GPS records attribute 21 deaths to Valdosta State Prison during Bryant’s facility-leadership tenure, all with Bryant listed as Deputy Warden of Security at the time. No lawsuits naming Bryant as a defendant appear in the GPS dataset.What happened on their watch
Autry State Prison (2007)
GPS records show no deaths attributed to Bryant’s correctional officer posting at Autry.CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2019–2024)
These postings carry no facility name in the records, and no death records are tied to them.Valdosta State Prison (Jan. 1–Mar. 15, 2025, Unit Manager/Deputy Warden)
No death records in the dataset fall during this window; the first logged death is Mar. 16, 2025.Valdosta State Prison (Mar. 16, 2025–present, Deputy Warden of Security)
All 21 death records fall after Bryant became Deputy Warden of Security. The decedents range in age from 21 to 66. GPS records mark many of these deaths with cause category 6, described in the notes as unknown/pending. Documented cases include:- Chet Elliott Kent, 45, died Mar. 16, 2025; the record note says “Died in the hole.”
- Brandon McGee, 33, was found dead Apr. 2, 2025; WALB reported the body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab.
- Anthony Prothro, 34, died Apr. 7, 2025; a GBI medical examiner report certified hanging and suicide.
- William Springer, 36, was stabbed in the face and head in September 2025; family members alleged staff did not respond for hours, according to WALB.
- Jevion Benham, 21, was found dead Dec. 24, 2025; the Lowndes County Coroner ruled strangulation homicide and estimated the body lay undiscovered for about two days.
- Ronnie Jackson, 62, died Feb. 15, 2026; the record notes a seizure and fall from his bunk.
- Robert Watkins, 38, was found dead Mar. 18, 2026; a Telegram relay tip said the body may have gone undiscovered for about two days, and a later single-inmate allegation of suicide was not independently corroborated.
- Antavious Bailey, 40, and Steven Bryant, 49, died June 21 and June 23, 2026; GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened investigations with causes pending autopsy, per GPS records.
- Ramon Ortiz, 34, died July 4, 2026; after a records identity correction, the cause remained unknown/pending.
The remaining deaths recorded during this period—Jason Jordan, Garrett Schmidt, Paul Hampton, Arthur Burks, Jessie Kilgore, Dequontist Lucas, Sergio Hernandez, Robert Johnson, Dontarious Burke, Jeremiah Brown, and Kevin Flamer—appear without a specific confirmed cause in the provided records.
Broader facility allegations overlap this tenure. AJC reporting said Valdosta was operating with roughly 80% of correctional officer positions vacant. GPS intelligence records document Operation Skyhawk-linked drug-trafficking allegations directed from Valdosta via contraband cellphones, with a task force investigation beginning in July 2025 and seven indictments in May 2026. In April 2025, GPS records include advocate reports of caged housing without toilet access and gang control of food distribution at Valdosta. In July 2026, GDC publicly alleged that a viral flooded-cell video from Valdosta was staged, according to WRDW. In March 2026, a federal judge sanctioned GDC and a former Valdosta officer over destroyed video evidence in a 2022 fatal stabbing, according to AJC; Bryant is not named in that matter.
Sources
- GPS records — personnel, death, intelligence, and settlement/tracking data
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigative reporting on Valdosta deaths, staffing vacancies, contraband schemes, and federal sanctions
- WALB — reporting on Brandon McGee and William Springer deaths and family allegations
- WTOC — reporting on Lowndes County Coroner Austin Fiveash’s criticism of the Benham body-discovery delay
- WRDW — reporting on GDC’s flooded-cell video allegation
- Yahoo.com — reporting on federal drug-trafficking charges tied to a Valdosta inmate
- GBI Medical Examiner’s Office report for Anthony Prothro (via GPS records)
- Telegram relay user reports (AI-classified) — Watkins death tip
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden of Security | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2025-03-16 → present |
| Unit Manager | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2019-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| CSM Correctional Unit Manager | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Correctional Officer | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
21 people died at facilities under Bryant, Delisha L's leadership.
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