Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Carter, Curtis
Carter, Curtis
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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.
Curtis Carter’s career in the Georgia Department of Corrections spans multiple leadership roles, culminating in two warden posts where the highest numbers of deaths occurred under his watch. GPS records attribute a total of 22 deaths to his tenure in positions of wardenship or deputy wardenship: one at Burruss Correctional Training Center, two at Autry State Prison, and 19 at Valdosta State Prison. Carter served as Deputy Warden at Burruss C.T.C. (2020‑2023), Warden at Autry State Prison (2024‑2025), and Warden at Valdosta State Prison from January 2025 through at least mid‑2026. He held earlier roles as Lieutenant and Captain at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, but no deaths are tied to those assignments in the accountability tally.
What happened on their watch
Burruss Correctional Training Center (Deputy Warden 2020‑2023)
During Carter’s deputy wardenship at Burruss, one death was recorded: Robert Carey Seymour, age 58, died on March 9, 2022, from a cause that remains undetermined in GPS records. No additional reports or allegations from the facility are linked to this period.Autry State Prison (Warden 2024‑2025)
While Carter was Warden at Autry, two deaths occurred. Alerick Campbell, 56, died on December 22, 2024, and Harvey Jack Woodard, 69, died on May 8, 2025. Both deaths are listed under cause category 6 (unknown/pending). GPS records do not contain further details, and no lawsuits or major incidents at Autry are specifically tied to Carter’s tenure.Valdosta State Prison (Warden 2025‑2026)
The 19 deaths at Valdosta State Prison under Carter’s wardenship form the bulk of the total attributed to his leadership. The list includes multiple homicides and deaths discovered long after they occurred. Among the earliest: Sinjuan Harmon was killed by strangulation on January 12, 2025; Brandon Dominique McGee was found dead in his cell on April 2, 2025, and his body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab, according to WALB. In September 2025, William Stacey Springer, 36, was stabbed in the face and head; WALB reported that family members alleged jailers did not respond for hours, and doctors pronounced him brain‑dead at the hospital. In December 2025, Jevion Andre Benham, 21, was strangled in segregation; the Lowndes County Coroner estimated he had been dead for two days before staff discovered him, and publicly stated, “Valdosta State Prison needs help.” Ronnie Jackson, 62, died on February 15, 2026, after a seizure and fall from his bunk, and Kyle Samuel Burke was killed by his cellmate on April 19, 2026, despite officers reportedly knowing of an ongoing conflict since the preceding Friday, per an AI‑classified Telegram relay. Several other deaths remain in cause category 6 (unknown/pending).Intelligence reports and news accounts document systemic dysfunction at Valdosta during Carter’s tenure. The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution reported in multiple investigations that the prison was operating with approximately 80% of correctional officer positions vacant, gang control of the kitchen, and widespread staff involvement in contraband trafficking. According to Operation Skyhawk findings published by the AJC, at least six Valdosta officers were arrested for conspiring with inmate Kydetrius Thomas to smuggle drug‑soaked paper, pills, and tobacco; other officers allegedly coordinated drone drops and one arranged a money‑for‑information scheme. The AJC also detailed allegations that Shane Griffith was beaten, burned, and killed by 11 inmates over several hours with no intervention, and that video evidence of a prior inmate homicide at the prison was destroyed by the GDC—a federal judge later sanctioned the department for bad faith in that case. The suicide of Jenna Mitchell in 2017, while not during Carter’s tenure, resulted in a $2.2 million settlement that was recorded in the system’s event timeline. Reports further described prisoners held in caged areas without toilet access. These conditions, corroborated by multiple AJC investigations and a WALB report, form the operational backdrop of the 19 deaths attributed to Valdosta under Carter’s wardenship.
Litigation
No lawsuits directly connected to Carter’s corrections service are recorded. The six cases listed under his name (e.g., Kat v. Glynn County School District, Johnson v. Carters Retail Inc.) are unrelated civil matters and are not part of the accountability narrative.
Sources
- GPS intelligence records — death counts, facility postings, and career timeline for Curtis Carter
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — multiple investigations into Valdosta State Prison staffing, contraband schemes, homicide cases, and destruction of evidence (2025‑2026 coverage)
- WALB — reports on the deaths of Brandon McGee, William Springer, and Sinjuan Harmon, including family allegations of delayed response
- WTXL — coroner statements following deaths at Valdosta State Prison
- Court records — federal sanctions against GDC for destruction of video evidence (referenced in AJC)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2025-07-16 → present |
| WARDEN 1 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2024-02-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| WARDEN 1 | AUTRY STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | BURRUSS C.T.C | 2020-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | BURRUSS C.T.C | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CORRECTION OPERATIONS | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Lieutenant | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2010-01-01 → 2010-12-31 |
| Special Management Unit CERT team | 2008-01-01 → 2008-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:25-cv-00073 | GASD | 2025-05-03 | pending |
| 1:21-cv-03461 | GAND | 2021-08-23 | terminated |
| 1:16-cv-00016 | GAND | 2016-01-04 | terminated |
| 1:13-cv-01312 | GAND | 2013-04-19 | terminated |
| 1:12-md-02329 | GAND | 2012-02-27 | terminated |
| 1:11-cv-00971 | GAND | 2011-03-25 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
22 people died at facilities under Carter, Curtis's leadership.
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.