Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Butts, Melvin
Butts, Melvin
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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
Melvin Butts has held multiple roles inside the Georgia Department of Corrections since 2015, starting as a correction operations staffer and later moving into business management. In 2018 he was elevated to Deputy Warden, a facility‑leadership post he has retained through at least 2025, when his assignment shifted to McRae Women’s Facility. GPS records attribute five deaths to his leadership tenure—all of them at McRae—between July 2025 and May 2026. No lawsuits naming Butts as a defendant appear in the database.What happened on their watch
Butts began serving as Deputy Warden at McRae Women’s Facility by January 1, 2025, and remained in that post through at least mid‑2026. During this period, five women died in custody:* Jadia Corine Rozier, 23, died on July 20, 2025. Her death is classified as cause‑category 3 (accident, per standard GPS coding). GPS research notes that a habeas corpus case was filed in connection with her death.
* Beverly Suzannne Sipple, 59, died on March 16, 2026. Cause category 6 (other/undetermined).
* Kristal Lyn Layne, 55, died on May 10, 2026. Cause category 6.
* Shannon Michelle Rush, 43, died on May 16, 2026. Cause category 6.
* Chasity King, 26, died on May 18, 2026. Cause category 6.
Four of the five deaths occurred within a nine‑day window in May 2026, a concentration that stands out in the data. Apart from Rozier’s accident classification, the remaining deaths are listed as category 6, suggesting the causes had not been publicly determined at the time of reporting. The entries for Rush and King were auto‑promoted from user‑submitted reports, indicating they were first flagged by external tipsters. No audits, DOJ findings, or news coverage were linked to Butts’s tenure in the provided records.
Sources
- GPS personnel and death‑attribution records — position history, facility assignments, and death totals for Melvin Butts
- GPS death reports for Jadia Rozier, Beverly Sipple, Kristal Layne, Shannon Rush, and Chasity King, including cause categories and notes
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2018-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| MGR, BUSINESS OPS | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| CORRECTION OPERATIONS | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
5 people died at facilities under Butts, Melvin's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-18 | CHASITY KING | 26 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2026-05-16 | SHANNON MICHELLE RUSH | 43 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2026-05-10 | KRISTAL LYN LAYNE | 55 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2026-03-16 | BEVERLY SUZANNNE SIPPLE | 59 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2025-07-20 | JADIA CORINE ROZIER | 23 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | DEPUTY WARDEN |
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.