Chaney, Mable Larose

Tenure Summary

Mable Larose Chaney has served as Deputy Warden at Dooly State Prison continuously since at least 2016, making her one of the longest-tenured facility-level leaders in GPS records at that institution. GPS records attribute 47 deaths at Dooly State Prison during her tenure as Deputy Warden, spanning from 2020 through early 2026. The deaths include at least eight classified as homicides, the majority falling into a non-homicide cause category (category 6), with a smaller number categorized as category 5. No lawsuits naming Chaney as a defendant appear in GPS records, and no settlements are recorded.

What Happened on Their Watch

Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2016–present

GPS records attribute 47 deaths at Dooly State Prison during Chaney's tenure as Deputy Warden. The dominant cause category across the full span is category 6 (the largest single grouping), with at least eight deaths classified as homicides (cause category 3) and at least two as category 5. The homicide deaths include: Dimitri Merci Jackson, 36, who died January 3, 2023 from a stab wound to the chest, per the AJC Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; Chad Taylor Roadifer, 45, who died October 27, 2023 from delayed complications of blunt force head trauma sustained months earlier, also per the AJC investigation; Brian Lee Wainwright, 59, whose January 4, 2024 death was ruled a homicide, per the AJC; Zeary Davante Davis, 31, who a GPS user report states bled to death on a dorm floor on September 26, 2024; Joshua Parrott, 45, whose January 12, 2025 death GPS records show was initially classified as suicide and later reclassified as homicide by strangulation; Horario Philmore, 58, whose February 2, 2025 death was officially ruled a suicide, though GPS records note inmate reports indicate strangulation; and Darrow Brown, 58, who a GPS user report states was killed on a facility walkway on November 7, 2025 by a member of the Crips gang while being escorted by an officer, and who was reportedly unaffiliated with any gang.

Beyond individual deaths, the facility has faced documented systemic conditions during Chaney's tenure. GPS records show Dooly State Prison was holding 1,593 people as of early 2026 in a facility designed for 750 — 212% of design capacity — while operating amid a statewide correctional officer vacancy rate of approximately 50%. According to the AJC, a coroner alleged that Carlito Omar Soldiew-Acosta, who died June 22, 2024, may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found. The AJC also reported allegations that James Yarbrough suffered from uncontrolled diabetes for months at Dooly before dying of ketoacidosis in a case alleging medical malpractice. Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that Cody Bailey alleged medical staff at Dooly put his father's treatment "on the back burner," contributing to his death from sepsis.

GPS intel records document a sustained pattern of gang-related violence at the facility in early 2026, including multiple stabbing incidents in March and April 2026 that resulted in Life Flight transports and facility lockdowns. GDC confirmed at least two separate gang-related fights in March 2026 that injured a combined ten or more inmates. A corrections officer cadet, Julius Deshawn Williams Jr., pleaded guilty in December 2025 to attempting to smuggle 640 grams of pure methamphetamine into Dooly, per WGXA. WALB reported allegations that an incarcerated person, Abraham Rivas, operated a phone fraud scheme from inside the prison and that correctional staff were allegedly aware of inmates running such schemes.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — AJC Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (homicide deaths of Jackson, Roadifer, Wainwright; Soldiew-Acosta body-discovery allegation; Yarbrough medical malpractice allegation)
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — DOJ deliberate indifference reporting; Bailey family allegation regarding sepsis death
• WGXA — Julius Deshawn Williams Jr. methamphetamine smuggling guilty plea; gang-related fight reporting
• 13WMAZ — Gang-related fight at Dooly State Prison
• WALB — Abraham Rivas phone fraud scheme allegations; staff awareness allegations
• GPS records — deaths during tenure (cause categories, incident dates, ages); overcrowding and staffing reports; GPS user reports (Brown, Philmore, Parrott, Davis homicide details); GPS Relay Bot incident classifications (April 2026 stabbings)

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.