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Dogan, Helen R
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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 began her Georgia Department of Corrections career in a Business Operations staff role in 2015. By the following year, she was elevated to the leadership rank of Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison in Davisboro, a post she held from at least 2016 through 2025, with death records indicating she remained in that role into mid‑2026. GPS records attribute 42 deaths to Washington State Prison during Dogan’s tenure as deputy warden, more than at any other facility held by a deputy‑level leader in the database. No lawsuits naming Dogan as a defendant appear in GPS litigation records.What happened on their watch
Dogan served as deputy warden at Washington State Prison across an unbroken decade when the facility recorded 42 deaths, documented by GPS from 2020 through 2026. The causes span homicide, drug intoxication, suicide, natural illness, medically neglected conditions, and multiple cases where the state has never established a cause of death.Washington State Prison was one of the facilities named in a U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) inquiry that, in November 2023, sought records concerning Eighth Amendment violations; the DOJ later issued a report describing “deliberate indifference” to unchecked violence, sexual assaults, and gang‑run black markets in Georgia lockups. A consultant study commissioned by Governor Brian Kemp in 2024—released after the January 2026 riot—found that maintenance failures allowed prisoners to strip materials for weapons, cell‑door locks did not work, and severe understaffing left movements unmonitored. These systemic findings align with the death patterns that accumulated on Dogan’s watch.
Homicides and violence. At least 14 of the 42 deaths were homicides. In January 2025, Dontavious Carter died of a puncture wound to the heart (per an official GDC mortality report). In June 2025, Michael Lareco Daniel was killed by sharp force trauma to the head, as recorded on his Washington County death certificate. Earlier, in August 2024, Devonte Tiger Williams died of multiple sharp‑force injuries to the torso, head and neck, and in August 2022 Michael Lee Jackson died of multiple blunt force injuries; both were documented by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s prison‑homicides investigation. A staff‑involved shooting claimed Jacob Cole Henson in April 2024: a GBI autopsy found Henson died of multiple gunshot wounds after a fight with guards inside an Augusta hospital, with the death certificate stating he was shot “while fighting with prison guards.” Then, on January 11, 2026, a gang‑affiliated disturbance erupted, killing three men—Jimmy Trammell, Ahmod Hatcher, and Teddy Jackson—and injuring 13 others; a fourth, Silas Westbrook, died days later from stab wounds sustained in the same riot. Twelve prisoners were later charged with felony murder and related offenses.
Drug‑intoxication deaths and contraband supply. Toxicology reports showed a cluster of methamphetamine toxicity deaths inside the prison: Jontavis Kellom (2024), Garrett Bailey (2023), Jimmy Rucker (2023), James Jenkins (2023), Benjamin Horne (2025), and Dajhmere Hall (2026) all died from methamphetamine or oxycodone overdoses. Hall’s death—a 30‑year‑old with no known medical history who died of acute oxycodone toxicity—underscored how prescription opioids reached cells. The contraband pipeline became a federal case in May 2026, when inmate Luis Alfonso Ramirez was indicted for directing a drug‑trafficking network from inside Washington State Prison; investigators seized 35 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3.5 kilograms of fentanyl.
Deaths without a determined cause. For at least seven deaths—including Darrin Gresham (2025), William Brooks (2022), Ronald Kidd (2023), and Charles Williamson (2023)—the GBI declined to perform an autopsy, leaving the cause of death officially unknown, a pattern that mirrors a broader GDC‑GBI catch‑22 documented by GPS. Jason Speed’s 2022 autopsy resulted in an undetermined manner, flagged by investigators as a possible foul‑play signal. Latavious Kirkland’s 2020 death was classified by GPS as likely resulting from medical indifference to untreated kidney injury after the GBI medical examiner attempted but could not reach the Washington County coroner to discuss the manner.
Allegations of neglect. Former prisoners told 13WMAZ that Washington State Prison was plagued by understaffing, broken locks, rampant gang activity, and an absence of emergency response. Family members reported that the facility went on lockdown for nearly two months after the January 2026 riot, and one family member alleged that legal mail was withheld for weeks beyond the department’s own deadline.
Sources
- GPS mortality records and GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy/consultation reports (obtained via Open Records Act requests)
- Washington County death certificates (coroner records production)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation and reporting on Washington State Prison riot, Jan. 2026
- 13WMAZ — former inmate allegations and GDC riot updates
- 41NBC — DOJ findings and fourth death confirmations
- WGXA — federal drug‑trafficking indictment of Luis Alfonso Ramirez, May 2026
- U.S. Department of Justice — CRIPA records request to Georgia prisons (Nov. 2023) and associated report of deliberate indifference
- Governor Kemp‑commissioned prison consultant study (referenced in AJC, Jan. 2026)
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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