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Carter, Samantha Denise

Status: active

Profile written August 9, 2026

Current Position Deputy Warden Of Administration Augusta State Medical Prison

Salary $52,696 2025 · state payroll

Deaths Under Their Watch 27 during their tenure

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

Samantha Denise Carter has worked for the Georgia Department of Corrections in various administrative and financial staff roles since at least 2003. Her postings included Hancock State Prison (2003, 2023), Washington State Prison (2012), and Augusta State Medical Prison (2019) before she was appointed Deputy Warden of Administration at Augusta State Medical Prison on January 16, 2026. GPS records attribute 27 deaths to the facility during her leadership tenure in that role—all at Augusta State Medical Prison. No lawsuits name Carter as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Carter assumed the deputy warden position at Augusta State Medical Prison on January 16, 2026. Over the next seven months, 27 people died in the facility. The deaths range from a 23‑year‑old man killed in a reported homicide to an 86‑year‑old whose death the Richmond County Coroner attributed to natural causes. Augusta State Medical Prison is the GDC’s primary medical prison, so a high volume of natural deaths is expected; coroner records confirm more than a dozen deaths from conditions including congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, endocarditis, lymphoma, sepsis, and organ failure.

Three deaths are classified as homicides in GPS records. On January 20, Jerry Wayne Merritt, 59, was stabbed to death; a fellow prisoner was accused of using a “sharpened object” over a commissary debt, according to a witness account. On May 22, Jacobi Alandis Chomicki, 23, was killed in D2 unit—reports from inside the prison described a homicide that sent one person to the hospital and one to “the upper room” (the morgue), and the GDC later confirmed his death. Wanique Marsay Odwin, 44, died on June 29; her name appears on the GDC’s June 2026 monthly mortality report, though the cause is noted only as homicide by GPS’s categorization. Several other deaths remain in the Unknown/Pending category, including Donald Hugh Young, whose GDC record was purged—an indicator of death—after the facility was swept on August 7‑8.

Allegations of violence and neglect at Augusta State Medical Prison predate Carter’s tenure, but reports of conflict continued under her watch. In April 2026, a Telegram relay described an incarcerated person being “stabbed in the eye” in D building, and an earlier claim said four people arrived at the prison with “wired shut jaws.” The AJC has documented earlier deaths at the facility, such as Thomas Henry Giles (left in a smoke‑filled cell) and Rodarick Lee Hayes (stabbed while a guard allegedly aided the attackers), though those incidents occurred before Carter became deputy warden. Broader systemic failures—the DOJ’s 2024 findings of deliberate indifference to violence, the contempt proceedings against GDC leadership for defying court orders, and the AJC’s investigations of corruption and understaffing—formed the environment in which the 27 deaths took place.

Sources

Richmond County Coroner’s Office summary (ORR conv 1118385a) — causes of death for multiple decedents from January 22 2026 onward
GDC June 2026 Monthly Mortality Report — confirmation of Wanique Odwin’s death
Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — investigations into GDC conditions, homicides at Augusta State Medical Prison (Giles, Hayes) and systemic failures
13WMAZ / WGXA / 41NBC — coverage of the Washington State Prison riot and DOJ findings, contextualizing state‑wide GDC conditions
GPS user reports and relay bot logs — witness accounts of the Merritt, Chomicki, and D‑building incidents

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 9, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.

Positions Held

Title	Facility	Tenure
Deputy Warden of Administration	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON	2026-01-16 → present
ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN 3		2024-01-01 → present
FINANCIAL OPS GENERALIST 2	HANCOCK STATE PRISON	2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31
Accounting Technician II		2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31
Financial Operational Generalist	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON	2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31
Administrative Support	WASHINGTON STATE PRISON	2012-01-01 → 2012-12-31
Administrative Support	HANCOCK STATE PRISON	2003-01-01 → 2003-12-31

Deaths attributed during tenure

27 people died at facilities under Carter, Samantha Denise's leadership.

About deaths recorded at Augusta State Medical Prison. Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP) is the GDC's primary medical and end-of-life facility. It concentrates the system's most seriously ill, disabled, and dying people — many transferred there because they were already gravely ill or injured, including after violence at other prisons. A large share of the deaths counted here reflect advanced illness, and the wardens and deputy wardens listed should not be held personally accountable for every death at this facility. That said, conditions at ASMP still produce more deaths than necessary, and responsibility is shared: the State of Georgia and the Board of Pardons and Paroles bear equal responsibility for holding medically incapacitated and dying people in custody far longer than necessary. Read these figures as positional context — not as a measure of any individual official's culpability.

Date	Decedent	Age	Facility	Role at time
2026-08-05	Donald Hugh Young	—	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-07-03	John Doe	—	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-06-29	WANIQUE MARSAY Odwin	44	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-06-20	DAVID MEEKS	62	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-28	JAMES DEAN WILKINSON	69	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-22	JACOBI ALANDIS CHOMICKI	23	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-12	FREDERICK RASKIN	84	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-11	HENRY ROSS	56	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-09	MANUEL GOMEZ	—	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-05-05	ROBERT BRUCE GREEN	69	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-04-27	LEMARCUS ANTONIO DUNSON	50	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-04-25	WALTER CALDWELL	49	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-04-25	JACKIE MCCOY BLACKMON	72	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-04-22	EDWARD EUGENE BARBER	72	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-04-09	TRISTAN MCLENNON TRIMM	42	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-03-24	ERVIN CROSS	46	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-03-20	LENWARD BROWN	73	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-03-06	WILBURN W DOBBS	76	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-03-02	SIDNEY DORSEY	86	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-03-01	ALPHONSO WATTS	54	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-02-17	DEQUAN OSBORNE	33	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-02-11	SHAA-MIL BROWN	34	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-02-09	DONALD MILLER	41	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-02-02	MICHAEL JEFFERSON	38	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-01-31	JOHN W CURRY	64	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-01-22	JEFFERSON PHILLIPS HARVARD	61	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration
2026-01-20	JERRY WAYNE MERRITT	59	AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON †	Deputy Warden of Administration

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