Cook, Matasha L

Tenure Summary

Matasha L Cook's documented career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in non-custodial and administrative roles: Business Operation Specialist in 2015, Administrative Assistant Supervisor from 2016 through 2019, Behavioral Health Counselor 2 from 2020 through 2022, and Financial Ops Generalist 3 in 2023. None of those positions is tied in the records to a specific facility. Her first facility-leadership posting is Deputy Warden at Lee State Prison, dated November 22, 2023, with salary records continuing there through 2024 and 2025. Records list her as Deputy Warden of Administration at Lee State Prison effective July 16, 2026, with no end date, and a separate Deputy Warden entry dated August 27, 2026.

GPS's registry attributes 3 deaths to her leadership tenure, all of them at Lee State Prison. No lawsuits naming her as a defendant appear in the records, and no news reports in the input name her directly.

What happened on their watch

Lee State Prison — Deputy Warden (from November 22, 2023) and Deputy Warden of Administration (from July 16, 2026)

Three deaths during Cook's tenure as Deputy Warden are recorded at Lee State Prison, per GPS's death registry:

• Christopher Aaron Godfrey died January 16, 2024, at Lee State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 40.
• Daniel Emmett Ivey died February 15, 2024, at Lee State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 26.
• Quinton Pearson died September 8, 2025, at Lee State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 45.

The registry does not state a cause for any of the three; "Unknown/Pending" means GPS does not yet know it. All three deaths fall inside her Deputy Warden tenure, and the two 2024 deaths occurred roughly a month apart, in January and February of that year.

In 2026, while she held the Deputy Warden of Administration role, three inmate reports relayed to GPS described conditions at Lee State Prison. A report dated September 12, 2026, says gang fights occurred at the facility that year and that staff were reportedly placed on heightened alert for further violence. A report dated September 18, 2026, relays an account from an incarcerated person that the prison had come off lockdown, and that staff had been extra cautious following weekend gang fights. A report dated September 22, 2026, says Lee State Prison came off lockdown and attributes the lockdown to a possible drone sighting — an explanation, the report notes, that the source itself doubted. These are accounts relayed by incarcerated people and submitted to GPS; they are allegations, not findings.

The records contain no lawsuits filed against Cook, no settlements, and no news coverage naming her. No events in the input's event list are tied to her tenure.

Sources

• GPS death registry — entries for Christopher Aaron Godfrey (died January 16, 2024, Lee State Prison), Daniel Emmett Ivey (died February 15, 2024, Lee State Prison), and Quinton Pearson (died September 8, 2025, Lee State Prison), each listed as Unknown/Pending cause
• GPS inmate case submissions — three relayed accounts from Lee State Prison dated September 12, 18, and 22, 2026, describing gang fights, heightened staff alert, and lockdowns
• Georgia Department of Corrections personnel and salary records — positions and salary years for Cook, 2015 through 2026

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.