Carter, Curtis

Tenure Summary

Curtis Carter's GDC career runs from a Special Management Unit CERT team assignment in 2008 through the lieutenant and captain ranks and into facility command. Records list him as a Lieutenant at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in 2010, in Correction Operations in 2015, as a CSM Correctional Captain at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification from 2016 through 2018, as a captain at Burruss C.T.C in 2019, and as Deputy Warden at Burruss from 2020 through 2023. He moved into facility leadership as Warden at Autry State Prison, with positions records covering 2024 through July 15, 2025, then held the Warden role at Valdosta State Prison from July 16, 2025 through May 31, 2026. A later position entry lists him as Warden 3 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison on August 27, 2026. He is listed as active.

Seventeen deaths are attributed to his leadership tenures: 14 at Valdosta State Prison, two at Autry State Prison, and one at Burruss C.T.C. No lawsuit naming Carter as a defendant appears in the records.

What happened on their watch

Burruss C.T.C — Deputy Warden, 2020–2023. One death is attributed to this posting. Robert Carey Seymour died March 9, 2022, at Burruss C.T.C; the registry lists the cause as Suicide, age 58.

Autry State Prison — Warden, 2024 through July 15, 2025. Two deaths are attributed here, both with causes the registry lists as Unknown/Pending: Alerick Campbell died December 22, 2024, age 56, and Harvey Jack Woodard died May 8, 2025, age 69. An intel record dated January 1, 2025 — a date on which Carter held the Warden role — documents Legionella bacteria contamination at Autry, an inmate's 2021 positive test for Legionnaires' disease, and the facility's June 2023 closure for plumbing and HVAC upgrades. Those underlying events predate his tenure; the record itself is dated within it.

Valdosta State Prison — Warden, July 16, 2025 through May 31, 2026. Fourteen deaths are attributed to this posting — the largest share of his total — spanning ages 21 to 66. Eleven carry a registry cause of Unknown/Pending.

• William Stacey Springer died September 16, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; the registry lists cause as Homicide, age 36.
• Garrett Paul Schmidt died September 21, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 40.
• Paul Hampton died October 12, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 66.
• Arthur Nekita Burks died November 28, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 61.
• Jessie James Kilgore died December 23, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 56.
• Jevion Andrez Benham died December 24, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Homicide, age 21.
• Dequontist Marquez Lucas died December 25, 2025, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 41.
• Ronnie Jackson died February 15, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 62.
• Sergio Hernandez died February 26, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Homicide, age 39.
• Robert Louis Johnson died March 8, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 60.
• Robert Jordan Watkins died March 18, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 38.
• Dontarious Lamonta Burke died April 19, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 23.
• Jeremiah Alan Brown died May 26, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 40.
• Kevin James Flamer died May 28, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 26.

Several of these deaths drew press and family scrutiny dated to Carter's tenure. WTOC reported December 26, 2025 that Coroner Austin Fiveash criticized a two-day delay in discovering Benham's body as a major security concern; an intel event records that Benham was found dead in his cell on December 24, that the coroner ruled strangulation as the cause and homicide as the manner, and that he was estimated to have died December 22. WALB reported September 18, 2025 that Springer's family alleged GDC never contacted them after he was attacked, that he was stabbed multiple times in the face and head, and — per inmates the family cited — that jailers did not respond for several hours; the same record notes an honor walk held before organ donation. An intel event dated April 1, 2026 records gang-related fights at Smith, Wilcox, Hays and Valdosta State Prisons that sent five inmates to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Drug-trafficking allegations also attach to this period. Yahoo.com reports dated May 27, 2026 name Monique Burton, Jacquez Franks, Bergin Flores, Alejandro Blanco, Misael Bustos and Ramiro Chaves as charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and describe Luis Ramirez as directing a drug trafficking network tied to Mexican cartels using contraband cellphones while incarcerated at Valdosta State Prison. Intel events record that a task force began investigating Ramirez in July 2025, that seven people were indicted, and that law enforcement seized 35 kilograms of suspected crystal methamphetamine, 3.5 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and $145,000.

Court activity during the same posting concerns the February 2022 stabbing death of Hakeem Williams — which predates Carter's tenure — and former officer Angela Butler. Per Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting dated March 30, 2026, a lawsuit filed by Haley Mackrell alleges Butler ignored Williams' cries for help, failed to restrain or search Jonathan Bivens before locking a handcuffed Williams in the cell with him, and lied under oath; the same reporting alleges GDC destroyed video footage of the stabbing after reviewing it. Chief U.S. District Judge Leslie Gardner sanctioned GDC for destroying evidence in bad faith and sanctioned Butler for lying under oath, per the intel event, ruling the jury would be informed and that GDC would be liable for any verdict against Butler.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Warden 3, August 27, 2026. No deaths are attributed to this posting.

Sources

• Georgia Prisoners' Speak death registry — 17 deaths attributed across Carter's Burruss C.T.C, Autry State Prison and Valdosta State Prison leadership tenures
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — March 30, 2026 reporting on the Williams stabbing, the destroyed video evidence, and judicial sanctions against GDC and Angela Butler
• WTOC — December 26, 2025 report on Benham's death and the coroner's criticism of the discovery delay
• WALB — September 18, 2025 report on Springer's stabbing and the family's allegations
• Yahoo.com — May 27, 2026 reports on drug-trafficking charges linked to Valdosta State Prison
• Court records — U.S. District Judge Leslie Gardner's sanctions ruling and the Mackrell lawsuit referenced in the intel events

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.