Carver, Keenan

Tenure Summary

Keenan Carver entered the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2016 as a correctional officer and rose steadily through the ranks: correctional officer 2 (2017–2018), correctional sergeant (2019), correctional lieutenant (2020–2022), and correctional unit manager (2023). State salary records place a unit manager assignment at Ware State Prison on Nov. 22, 2023, before his move to Smith State Prison, where he has held the Deputy Warden post from 2024 onward — with 2024 and 2025 salary records and an additional deputy warden entry dated Aug. 27, 2026. He is listed as active.

Ten deaths are attributed to his leadership tenure, all of them at Smith State Prison, a facility the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has described as one of the most understaffed, violent, and dysfunctional in the state. No lawsuit in the records reviewed names Carver as a defendant, though two lawsuits arising from Smith State Prison deaths and security failures were filed while he held the deputy warden role.

What happened on their watch

Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2024–present). All ten deaths attributed during Carver's leadership tenure occurred at this facility. The most recent decedents recorded are Dreeonnie Lee Hart, 25 (May 14, 2026); Dwayne Eric Albritton, 65 (March 12, 2026); Nicholas Shafer, 24 (Feb. 8, 2026); John Jacobs, 77 (Oct. 25, 2025); Calvin Bernard Craft, 34 (Dec. 14, 2024); Orlando Jordan, 36 (Sept. 13, 2024); Richard Jermine Williams, 43 (Sept. 7, 2024); Jaydrekus Cartez Hart, 34 (June 16, 2024); Gineli Antoine Gray, 31 (Feb. 9, 2024); and Donquerius Lamonte Mahone, 37 (Feb. 4, 2024). Six of the ten were under 40. Five share the same recorded cause classification and two others share a second classification; the categories themselves are not described in the data.

The June 16, 2024 death of Jaydrekus Cartez Hart, 34, falls on the same date that the AJC, GPB, and other outlets report inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot and killed 24-year-old Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace in the prison kitchen at roughly 4:30 a.m., then shot himself. One record in the file instead dates Grace's death to May 25, 2024. The shooting prompted GDC to lock down all state prisons and cancel visitations; Gov. Brian Kemp announced a system-wide assessment and an outside review by Guidehouse Inc. (June 17, 2024).

AJC reporting from the period documents conditions at the facility during Carver's tenure: two-thirds of correctional officer positions unfilled — 53 officers at a facility designed for 160; claims that staff were repeatedly warned by inmates that a gun was on the premises but failed to initiate a lockdown or extensive search; that no guards were in the area where Grace was shot; that Hart was not authorized to be in the kitchen but was allegedly permitted to violate rules; and a former corrections officer's allegation that the prison's back gate had no metal detector. Investigators allege the firearm was smuggled by drone. GDC accused Grace of helping smuggle the gun, which her mother denies, according to the AJC.

Other AJC and Marshall Project reports from the tenure include: a single officer assigned to a housing area of 600 men with no functioning fire extinguishers; a decomposing body not discovered for five days; correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, killed by a prisoner with a homemade weapon; Desmond Hill's call to his mother the day before his death saying his cellmate had threatened to kill him; and inmate Nathan Weekes, accused of orchestrating the mistaken-identity murder of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter and two other killings from inside the prison using a contraband cell phone. The AJC also reported that then-warden Brian Adams was accused of taking cash in an inmate's contraband scheme. The GDC has been under U.S. Department of Justice scrutiny since September 2021.

Litigation

• Hagins v. Georgia Department of Corrections — filed July 21, 2025 in Fulton County State Court; seeks a jury trial and unspecified compensation; alleges staff were repeatedly warned of a gun on the premises but failed to act. Carver is not named as a defendant in the records provided.
• Lawsuit over the death of Hiwatha Abdulcah Hakeem Jr. — dated Jan. 21, 2025; alleges the four prisoners who attacked Hakeem had a history of violence and that officials failed to provide timely, adequate medical care afterward. Carver is not named as a defendant in the records provided.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on the June 2024 Smith State Prison shooting, staffing shortfalls, contraband and drone smuggling, the 2025 Hagins lawsuit, homicide tracking, the Weekes allegations, and the Adams corruption accusations
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — Senate committee testimony on drones and deadly contraband (Aug. 30, 2024)
• The Marshall Project — officer shortage and overtime investigation (Jan. 10, 2024)
• WTOC — former Smith State Prison employee charged with sexual assault (May 1, 2025)
• U.S. Department of Justice — ongoing GDC scrutiny since September 2021
• Fulton County State Court — Hagins v. Georgia Department of Corrections (filed July 21, 2025)
• Georgia Department of Corrections salary and position records

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.