Colon, Barbra

Tenure Summary

None of the lawsuits catalogued by GPS name Colon as a defendant. However, the facility she oversaw became the subject of repeated allegations of violence, neglect, and failures to protect incarcerated people, documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the U.S. Department of Justice, and internal GDC investigations.

What happened on their watch

The facility drew national scrutiny for violence during Colon’s tenure. According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation, a correctional officer at Augusta State Medical Prison was charged with murder for allegedly aiding in the stabbing death of Rodarick Lee Hayes in May 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice found that Hayes had been attacked multiple times before his death, indicating a failure to protect him. A 2024 DOJ report described a “culture of indifference” within GDC, enabling “horrific violence, sexual assaults, and gang-run prisons.” The AJC further documented that the state settled a $5 million lawsuit over the 2020 death of Thomas Henry Giles—who was left in a smoke-filled cell while officers evacuated others—and that guards had previously moved a violent prisoner into a cell with Eddie Gosier, leading to Gosier’s murder. Though those deaths predated Colon’s tenure, the systemic conditions they exposed persisted at the facility while she served as deputy warden.

Intelligence reports collected by GPS also highlight ongoing safety failures: a Telegram relay reported that an incarcerated person was stabbed in the eye in D building in April 2026, and a self-identified family member described extensive unsanitary and unsafe conditions in March 2026. The GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened multiple death investigations during this period, standard protocol after such incidents.

Litigation

Sources

• GPS personnel and death records — career history, total deaths attributed (258), and individual decedent listings for Augusta State Medical Prison.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigations into prison homicides and systemic failures at Augusta State Medical Prison, including the Hayes homicide, Giles settlement, and DOJ findings.
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 report on violence, sexual assaults, and gang control in Georgia prisons, with specific references to attacks on Rodarick Lee Hayes at ASMP.
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — multiple death investigations opened during Colon’s tenure at the facility.
• GPS intelligence reports — Telegram-relayed incident reports and family allegations of conditions at ASMP.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jun 7, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.