Carter, Samantha Denise

Tenure Summary

Samantha Denise Carter has worked within the Georgia Department of Corrections in administrative and financial roles since at least 2003, moving through postings at Hancock State Prison, Washington State Prison, and Augusta State Medical Prison before reaching her first leadership-tier position. GPS records show she was appointed Deputy Warden of Administration at Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP) on January 16, 2026. In the roughly three months that followed, GPS records attribute 13 deaths at ASMP during her tenure in that role. No lawsuits name Carter as a defendant, and no settled claims are on record against her personally.

---

What Happened on Their Watch

Augusta State Medical Prison — Deputy Warden of Administration (January 16, 2026–present)

GPS records attribute 13 deaths at ASMP during Carter's tenure as Deputy Warden of Administration, spanning January 20 through April 9, 2026. Twelve of the thirteen are coded cause-category 6 (cause undetermined or not yet classified in GPS records); one — Sidney Dorsey, age 86, who died March 2 — is recorded as a natural-causes death per a user report noting he was an elderly inmate. One death carries a confirmed cause: Jerry Wayne Merritt, 59, died January 20 after being stabbed in the chest and shoulder with a sharpened object; GPS records identify John Jaquis Trimer as the accused. The remaining ten category-6 deaths include Donald Miller (41), Michael Jefferson (38), Shaa-Mil Brown (34), DeQuan Osborne (33), Alphonso Watts (54), John W. Curry (64), Jefferson Phillips Harvard (61), Lenward Brown (73), Wilburn W. Dobbs (76), Ervin Cross (46), and Tristin Trimm (born 1984). Ages at death where recorded range from 33 to 76, suggesting the population spans general-population and medical-unit housing.

Several allegations tied to ASMP predate Carter's appointment but describe conditions she inherited. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, guards allegedly moved a prisoner with a violent strangulation history into Eddie Gosier's cell, leading to Gosier's murder hours later. The AJC also alleges Thomas Henry Giles was left in his smoke-filled cell for hours while nearby inmates were evacuated; the GBI ruled his death a homicide. A separate AJC report alleges Jimmy Lucero was placed in solitary confinement at ASMP without required medical checks and fell into a catatonic state and starved. The AJC further alleges a correctional officer aided in the attack that killed Rodarick Lee Hayes, and that a DOJ investigation found Hayes had been attacked on multiple prior occasions, suggesting a failure to protect him.

During Carter's tenure, GPS intelligence reports document a stabbing in D building (April 20, 2026), a severe beating (April 19), four inmates arriving with wired-shut jaws indicating prior violence (April 17), and a high-severity violence incident on April 30 — all at ASMP. A GPS user report from March 10 describes conditions at ASMP relayed by a self-identified incarcerated person's mother. A separate GPS report alleges that in the case of DeQuan Osborne (February 17 death), the prison did not inform the family until after he had been removed from life support.

The broader institutional context is documented in multiple sources. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report, cited by the AJC and 41NBC, found Georgia prison officials "deliberately indifferent" to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion, and sexual abuse across GDC facilities. The AJC reported that a federal judge found it "shocking" and "unbelievable" that GDC ignored an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals order on inmate email access, and that GDC had previously been held in contempt for defying court orders on conditions at a high-security wing. These systemic findings overlap directly with Carter's tenure at ASMP.

---

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on ASMP homicides (Gosier, Giles, Hayes, Lucero); Hancock staffing vacancies; GDC contempt proceedings; DOJ findings; systemic GDC conditions coverage
• 41NBC — Washington State Prison riot coverage; DOJ 2024 findings on GDC indifference; Hancock State Prison inmate death (Jaylin Bell)
• 13WMAZ — Washington State Prison riot; inmate charges; former-inmate accounts of conditions
• WGXA — Washington State Prison disturbance; Jimmy Trammell family allegation
• WFXL — Washington State Prison inmate charges
• GPS records — 13 deaths attributed to ASMP during Carter's Deputy Warden of Administration tenure; incident reports (stabbings, beatings, family notifications); Carter position and salary data
• GPS user/family reports — DeQuan Osborne family-notification allegation (GPS-DEATH-2026-E04D8); Jerry Wayne Merritt death details (GPS-DEATH-2026-DA0D1); Tristin Trimm death (GPS-DEATH-2026-26E55); ASMP conditions report (March 2026)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 10, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.