Dogan, Helen R

Tenure Summary

Helen R. Dogan entered Georgia state service in 2015 in a business operations staff position that the position records do not link to any facility. In 2016 she became a Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison, and GDC position and salary records list her in that post at the facility each year through 2025; intelligence entries dated 2026 continue to record her role at the time as Deputy Warden at the same prison. No lawsuit naming her as a defendant appears in the records.

GPS's death registry attributes 30 deaths to her leadership tenure, all of them at Washington State Prison. The headline items on that watch include the January 2026 disturbance at the prison in which four incarcerated men died and more than a dozen people were injured; the subsequent filing of felony murder, aggravated assault and gang-participation charges against 12 incarcerated men; a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report describing Georgia prison officials as "deliberately indifferent" to deadly violence; and a $7,000 state liability settlement recorded in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger, tied to a 2018 incident at the prison.

What happened on their watch

Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden (2016 onward)

GDC position records place Dogan at Washington State Prison as Deputy Warden from 2016 through 2025, and records dated 2026 list her role at the time as Deputy Warden there. Every death attributed to her leadership tenure occurred at this facility: 30, per GPS's death registry.

Recorded deaths during that tenure include:

• Taylor Allen Howard died December 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's death registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 66.
• Benjamin Horne died December 15, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 51.
• Wayne Krier died November 5, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 77.
• Darrin Gresham died August 8, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 60.
• William Earl Long died July 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Accident, age 52.
• Michael Lareco Daniel died June 20, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 44.
• Lamontez Winkfield died May 11, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 22.
• Yoncey Jallah died April 23, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 49.
• Robert Washington died January 14, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Dontavious Carter died January 7, 2025, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Homicide.
• Devonte Tiger Williams died August 9, 2024, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 26.
• Torrey Wayne Forrester died July 1, 2024, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 41.
• Johntavis Jermaine Kellom died May 2, 2024, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 36.
• Jacob Cole Henson died April 23, 2024, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Use of Force, age 31.
• Jimmy Lee Reed died April 2, 2024, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 66.
• Ronald Wayne Kidd died October 30, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 61.
• James Michael Jenkins died July 10, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 61.
• Sharod Farran Johnson died June 26, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 31.
• Jimmy Lee Rucker died June 20, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 53.
• Charles Craig Williamson died June 20, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 55.
• Garrett Lee Bailey died June 12, 2023, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 39.
• William A Brooks died November 25, 2022, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 67.
• Jason Shayne Speed died November 23, 2022, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Other, age 45.
• Phillip Rutledge died October 6, 2022, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 72.
• Michael Lee Jackson died August 17, 2022, at Washington State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 60.

Five earlier deaths in the same tenure are also recorded at Washington State Prison: Latavious Lanier Kirkland (December 21, 2020), David Terry Melton (January 5, 2022), Larry Elmo Laroche (March 28, 2022), Omar Sheffield Lashley (April 11, 2022) and Marquis Reshawn Jefferson (May 11, 2022). A GPS event record states Jefferson, 26, died from stab wounds to the torso and arm, and an incident report dated May 11, 2022, indicates four other incarcerated people were involved. Across the recorded causes in this tenure the registry lists Natural/Medical deaths, homicides, overdoses, an accident, a use of force, and cases marked Unknown/Pending; ages where given range from 22 to 77.

The gravest single episode was the January 2026 disturbance. Reported dates vary between January 11 and January 12, 2026; Jimmy Trammell, 42, and Ahmod Hatcher, 23, were pronounced dead at the scene, and Teddy Jackson, 27, died at Wellstar MCG hours later. Silas Westbrook, 42, injured in the disturbance, suffered a medical emergency on arrival at Metro Reentry Facility on January 17 and was pronounced dead; GDC's Office of Professional Standards is investigating. GDC said the disturbance was suspected gang-affiliated, that staff used nonlethal weapons and regained control by about 3:00 p.m., and that 13 incarcerated people and one correctional officer were injured. A GDC response to a GPS open records request showed six officers on duty at the facility, per an event record. In April 2026 GDC confirmed 12 incarcerated men were charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution. WGXA reported that Jimmy Trammell's brother alleged the prison is responsible for his death and demanded answers.

Other items recorded in this tenure: GDC's Office of Professional Standards investigated the June 2026 deaths of Courtney Davis and Isreal Jones, both listed as undetermined cause with no reported altercation or foul play; a federal indictment of Luis Alfonso Ramirez for running drug distribution from the prison with contraband phones (WGXA, May 27, 2026); a 2024 case in which Jeffery White was accused of leading a methamphetamine network from the prison; the January 2025 killing of Dontavious Carter, later described in an October 2025 record as documented by contraband-phone video with GDC accused of downplaying violence; the January–February 2025 beating of Jamie Shahan, who was placed on life support; 2025 blue-water contamination complaints and a November 2025 staffing record describing housing units at Washington and Dooly state prisons with no officer present for hours or entire shifts. AJC's homicide list states Jacob Cole Henson, 31, died April 23, 2024, of multiple gunshot wounds after a fight with the GDC officer transporting him to a hospital for treatment of a stabbing earlier that day. Records also note a 2024 DOJ finding of "deliberate indifference," a June 2024 consultant study commissioned by Gov. Kemp finding broken locks, weapon-making materials and unmonitored movement, and 2026 family and inmate allegations of prolonged lockdown, withheld commissary, gang-controlled housing units, unreported killings and a failed surveillance system; those are allegations attributed to their sources, including 13WMAZ interviews with former inmates Brandon and Earl White and 41NBC's report of State Rep. Billy Hitchens' criticism of cell-door locks.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — January 2026 coverage of the three deaths in the Washington State Prison fight; April 2026 report on the 12 inmates charged; the "GA prison homicides" list entry on Jacob Cole Henson; DOJ findings coverage.
• 13WMAZ — May 2026 reports on the 12 charged inmates and on former inmates' reform claims (Brandon, Earl White); GDC statement that brawl participants were gang-affiliated.
• WGXA — January 2026 reports on the disturbance and Jimmy Trammell's family; May 2026 report on the federal case against Luis Alfonso Ramirez.
• WFXL — April 2026 report on the 12 inmates charged.
• 11Alive — May 2026 report on GDC's gang-affiliation statement.
• 41NBC — January 2026 reports on the disturbance, Rep. Billy Hitchens' comments, and the DOJ's 2024 findings.
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 civil rights findings on violence, drug use, extortion and sexual abuse in Georgia prisons.
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — $7,000 settlement, Maurice Carter, 2018 incident at Washington State Prison.
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — investigations into the January 2026 disturbance and the June 2026 Davis and Jones deaths.
• Gov. Kemp-commissioned consultant study (hired June 2024) — maintenance, lock failure and understaffing findings.
• GPS death registry and GPS case submissions — decedent records and facility allegations.

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.