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Dogan, Helen R
Status: active
Profile written August 16, 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, then served as DEPUTY WARDEN at Washington State Prison from 2016 through 2025, according to GPS position records. GPS attributes 42 deaths to Washington State Prison during the leadership tenure coded to Dogan; the provided death-record sample runs through mid-2026 and also codes later deaths to a deputy-warden role there. No lawsuits naming Dogan as a defendant appear in the provided records. Washington State Prison is identified in GPS records as a DOJ-CRIPA named facility (#174).
What happened on their watch
Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden tenure
GPS position records list Dogan as deputy warden at Washington State Prison from 2016 through 2025. The earliest death in the provided sample occurred on Dec. 21, 2020, when 31-year-old Latavious Lanier Kirkland died; GBI records later described the cause and manner as undetermined, and GPS notes raise a medical-indifference angle. The 2022 records include David Terry Melton, 25, whose GBI autopsy states ligature hanging and manner suicide with methamphetamine present, and Marquis Reshawn Jefferson, 26, whose death is listed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution homicide investigation as stab wounds to the torso and arm. Michael Lee Jackson, 60, died in August 2022 with multiple blunt force injuries, per the AJC.
In 2023 and 2024 the sample shows a cluster of drug-toxicity deaths: Garrett Lee Bailey, Jimmy Lee Rucker, and James Michael Jenkins each died with methamphetamine toxicity, according to GBI autopsy records; Johntavis Jermaine Kellom died in May 2024 with methamphetamine intoxication ruled accidental. The files also record homicides. Jacob Cole Henson, 31, died April 23, 2024 of multiple gunshot wounds; his Washington County death certificate lists homicide and states “GUNSHOT WOUNDS WHILE FIGHTING WITH PRISON GUARDS.” The AJC also documented the shooting. Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died Aug. 9, 2024 with multiple sharp force injuries, per the AJC. GPS records show several deaths were left unknown or pending after the GBI declined examination, including William A. Brooks, Charles Craig Williamson, Ronald Wayne Kidd, and Darrin Gresham.
In January 2025, a GDC-released January 2025 mortality report listed Dontavious Carter as “Homicide due to a Puncture Wound to the Heart,” according to GPS records. Michael Lareco Daniel, 44, died in June 2025 of sharp force trauma to the head; his official Washington County death certificate records the death as homicide. A January 2026 riot at Washington State Prison killed Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, 23, Jimmy Lee Trammell, 42, and Teddy Dewayne Jackson, 27, according to GPS death records; Silas Westbrook, 42, was injured in the same riot and died Jan. 17, 2026 after transfer, with a Washington County death certificate listing homicide from delayed complications of multiple sharp force injuries. GDC described the disturbance as gang-affiliated, and 12 inmates were charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and related counts, according to local news reports in the GPS intel files.
In mid-2026, the supplied sample records additional Washington State Prison deaths including Deshawn Poole, 34; Courtney Davis, 43; and Isreal Moses Jones, 68. GDC’s June 2026 monthly mortality report confirmed the Davis and Jones deaths. A confidential-source account in GPS records classified the Jones death as a homicide, while GDC’s public statement described the cause as undetermined pending GBI autopsy.
The intel reports also carry condition allegations: former inmates and family members alleged understaffing, broken locks, gang dominance, poor medical care, and withheld legal mail, according to 13WMAZ and a GPS family report. WGXA reported an allegation that Luis Alfonso Ramirez directed a drug trafficking network from Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones; a GPS intel event describes a federal indictment and seizures of 35 kg of methamphetamine and 3.5 kg of fentanyl. AJC and 41NBC reporting reference a U.S. DOJ finding of “deliberate indifference” to violence, drugs, extortion, and sexual abuse in Georgia prisons.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; Washington State Prison homicide records, conditions reporting, and January 2026 riot coverage.
- 41NBC, 13WMAZ, WGXA, 11Alive, WFXL — Washington State Prison riot, conditions, and contraband reporting.
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences open records productions — autopsy, toxicology, and consultation records.
- Washington County death certificates and coroner records production.
- GDC monthly mortality reports, including June 2026 and January 2025 releases.
- U.S. DOJ (M.D. Ga.) CRIPA / Eighth Amendment records request, Nov. 16, 2023.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| 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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