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Dogan, Helen R
Status: active
Profile written July 12, 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
Helen R. Dogan held a Business Operations role in 2015 before being appointed Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison in 2016, a position GPS records show she has held through at least 2025. During her time in that facility leadership role, 42 deaths have been attributed to the prison, according to GPS data. Her tenure has coincided with a cascade of violent incidents, including multiple homicides, an officer-involved fatal shooting, and a deadly gang-related riot in January 2026 that killed four men, injured over a dozen others, and triggered a prolonged facility lockdown.What happened on their watch
Dogan served continuously as Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison from 2016 onward. Over that span, GPS’s records attribute 42 deaths to the facility. At least eight of those deaths were homicides. A Washington County death certificate obtained by GPS shows that Jacob Cole Henson was fatally shot by a prison guard in April 2024 while he was “fighting with prison guards,” a staff-involved killing distinct from inmate-on-inmate violence. In 2022, Michael Lee Jackson died of multiple blunt force injuries, per an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation. Michael Lareco Daniel was stabbed to death in June 2025 — his death certificate lists “assaulted by other” — and Dontavious Carter was similarly killed by a puncture wound to the heart in January 2025. The most devastating incident was the January 11, 2026 riot: a gang-related fight that escalated, leaving Jimmy Lee Trammell, Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, and Teddy Dewayne Jackson dead that day; Silas Rodrigiouz Westbrook died of stab wounds six days later. News outlets reported that twelve inmates were subsequently charged with felony murder and gang participation. Other deaths during Dogan’s watch involved suspected drug overdoses (e.g., JohnTavis Jermaine Kellom from methamphetamine intoxication, classified accidental), natural causes, suicides, and several pending classification or investigation, including a pair of deaths in June 2026 — Courtney Davis and Isreal Moses Jones — that the GDC Office of Professional Standards was investigating.Allegations of systemic failures permeate the period. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation, cited by WGXA and the AJC, described Georgia prison officials as “deliberately indifferent” to unchecked violence, sexual assault, and gang control. Former inmates told 13WMAZ that Washington State Prison housed over 50 men in dorms with no education or recreation programs, and that stabbings occurred daily with no staff intervention. According to the AJC, maintenance deficiencies allowed prisoners to craft weapons, and malfunctioning cell locks enabled free movement. A federal indictment in May 2026 alleged an inmate ran a drug trafficking ring from the prison using contraband cellphones, as reported by WGXA. A family report to GPS in May 2026 claimed legal mail was withheld in violation of GDC policy. While GPS records no lawsuits naming Dogan as a defendant, the Washington County coroner’s office received a DOJ records request in November 2023 probing safety conditions at the facility.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Washington State Prison homicides, the 2026 riot, and systemic infrastructure failures
- WGXA — coverage of the contraband-cellphone drug ring and the gang-affiliated disturbance
- 13WMAZ — former inmate accounts of conditions and the 12-inmate indictment
- 41NBC — DOJ investigation findings and riot aftermath
- 11Alive — GDC characterization of the riot as gang-affiliated
- WFXL — charges filed against 12 inmates
- Washington County Coroner death certificates — obtained via GPS public records; documents cause and manner for Henson, Westbrook, Daniel, Carter, and others
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences reports — review-only autopsy determinations for several deaths (e.g., Howard, Krier)
- U.S. Department of Justice, Middle District of Georgia — CRIPA / Eighth-Amendment records request to the Washington County coroner (Nov. 2023)
- Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards — investigation into the June 2026 deaths of Davis and Jones
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → present |
| BUSINESS OPERATIONS | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
42 people died at facilities under Dogan, Helen R's leadership.
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