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COX, Eric
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Eric Cox began his career in the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Smith State Prison in 2008 and returned to the same facility in 2015. He rose through supervisory ranks — lieutenant, captain, and unit manager — before being appointed Deputy Warden at Smith in 2021. He then held the same post at Ware State Prison from 2022 through 2024, followed by a brief tenure as Deputy Warden at the Special Management Unit in early 2025. He was later promoted to Warden at Dodge State Prison (mid‑2025) and then to Warden of the Special Management Unit in 2026. Across his facility‑leadership postings, GPS records attribute a total of 50 deaths to his watch: 7 at Smith State Prison (2021) and 43 at Ware State Prison (2022‑2024). Multiple lawsuits in which Cox is named as a defendant were filed during and after those tenures.What happened on their watch
Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2021) During Cox’s year as deputy warden, GPS records show seven men died at the facility. Six of those deaths were homicides, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation. The decedents included Justin Wilkerson (25, asphyxia due to neck compression), Desmond Hill (35, strangulation), Hiwatha Hakeem (26, multiple stab wounds), Derrick Harvey (26, stab wound to chest), Christopher Reynolds (38, blunt and sharp force injuries to head and neck), and Christopher Redwine (45, asphyxia by manual strangulation). A seventh death, that of Michael Canty (35), was recorded under a non‑homicide cause category. A lawsuit later alleged that the four prisoners who attacked Hakeem had a known history of violence and that prison officials failed to provide timely medical care. The facility’s chronic understaffing — reported by the AJC as only 53 officers for 160 positions — was an aggravating factor cited in multiple investigations into violence and contraband inside the prison during that period.Ware State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022‑2024)
Cox served as deputy warden at Ware across three calendar years. GPS records attribute 43 deaths to the facility while he held that position. Among them, at least seven were homicides documented in the AJC’s prison‑homicides investigation: Vadarian Carr (26, stab wounds), Kyle Strother (31, stab wound), Alfonso Moore (30, blunt impact head injuries), Thomas McCoy (38, stab wound), Leonardo Anderson (49, multiple stab wounds), Samuel Ellis (31, multiple sharp force injuries), and Christopher Taylor (33, stab wound). The AJC also noted that ten inmates were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024, with multiple perpetrators involved in several of the incidents. Many other deaths during Cox’s tenure were classified under a pending or non‑homicide category; the Georgia Department of Corrections stopped disclosing preliminary causes of death in its monthly reports in March 2024, obscuring the full nature of the toll. Broader systemic scrutiny — including a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report labeling Georgia prisons “inhumane” and a federal contempt order for the Special Management Unit — formed the backdrop to the high mortality at Ware.
Litigation
Per court records, Eric Cox is named as a defendant in the following lawsuits:- Scott v. Taylor, Case 3:25‑cv‑00107, filed November 6, 2025, in the Southern District of Georgia; status pending.
- Brown v. Odum, Case 5:25‑cv‑00062, filed June 30, 2025, in the Southern District of Georgia; status pending.
- Jackson v. Odum, Case 5:25‑cv‑00051, filed June 9, 2025, in the Southern District of Georgia; status pending.
- Daker v. Ward, Case 7:20‑cv‑00113, filed June 11, 2020, in the Middle District of Georgia; terminated November 3, 2021.
- Foster v. United Parcel Service Inc, Case 1:15‑cv‑00681, filed March 6, 2015, in the Northern District of Georgia; terminated June 27, 2018.
- In Re Wright Medical Technology Inc Conserve Hip Implant Products, Case 1:12‑md‑02329, filed February 27, 2012, in the Northern District of Georgia; terminated June 26, 2018.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports during 2021 tenure at Smith State Prison and 2022‑2024 tenure at Ware State Prison, and investigations into understaffing and contraband at Smith.
- WTOC — report on sexual assault allegation at Smith State Prison (2025).
- The Georgia Virtue — coverage of the indictment and RICO allegations involving Smith State Prison’s former warden.
- The Marshall Project — reporting on severe understaffing and its consequences in Georgia prisons, including at Smith State Prison.
- U.S. Department of Justice investigation — findings of inhumane conditions and obstruction (reported 2024‑2025).
- CourtListener — docket records for the lawsuits listed.
- GPS intelligence records — authoritative death totals per facility and personnel data.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2026-01-16 → present |
| Warden | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2025-07-16 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WARE STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2008-01-01 → 2008-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:25-cv-00107 | GASD | 2025-11-06 | pending |
| 5:25-cv-00062 | GASD | 2025-06-30 | pending |
| 5:25-cv-00051 | GASD | 2025-06-09 | pending |
| 7:20-cv-00113 | GAMD | 2020-06-11 | terminated |
| 1:15-cv-00681 | GAND | 2015-03-06 | terminated |
| 1:12-md-02329 | GAND | 2012-02-27 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
50 people died at facilities under COX, Eric's leadership.
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