Dogan, Helen R

Tenure Summary

Helen R. Dogan appears in Georgia Department of Corrections salary records in a business operations post in 2015, then from 2016 onward as Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison. Every leadership position in her file sits at that one facility, and the records show her holding the deputy warden role continuously from 2016 through 2025 and into 2026.

GPS's death registry attributes 30 deaths to her tenure as Deputy Warden — all 30 at Washington State Prison. Homicides appear in the registry in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, alongside natural/medical deaths, overdoses and one use-of-force death. The largest single episode on her watch came in January 2026, when a disturbance at the prison killed four incarcerated men — Jimmy Trammell, Ahmod Hatcher, Teddy Jackson and Silas Westbrook — and injured more than a dozen others; the GDC described it as gang-affiliated, and twelve incarcerated men were later charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution. The records show no lawsuit naming Dogan as a defendant. A state liability payout of $7,000 is recorded in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger for a 2018 incident at Washington State Prison involving Maurice Carter.

What happened on their watch

Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden (2016–present)

2016–2021. The registry's earliest death inside this tenure is Latavious Lanier Kirkland, who died December 21, 2020.

2022. Eight deaths are recorded, including David Terry Melton (January 5), Larry Elmo Laroche (March 28) and Omar Sheffield Lashley (April 11). Marquis Reshawn Jefferson died May 12, 2022, from stab wounds to the torso and arm; an incident report dated May 11, 2022 lists four other incarcerated people as involved. Michael Lee Jackson died August 17, 2022, from multiple blunt force injuries in the setting of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with an incident report showing two other inmates involved.

2023–2024. Six deaths are recorded in 2023 and five in 2024, including Devonte Tiger Williams, who died August 9, 2024, from multiple sharp force injuries to the torso, head and neck. Jacob Cole Henson died April 23, 2024, from multiple gunshot wounds after a fight with a GDC officer who had taken him to a hospital for treatment of stab wounds earlier that day, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice issued findings that Georgia prison officials were "deliberately indifferent" to unchecked deadly violence, widespread drug use, extortion and sexual abuse, and that sophisticated gangs ran prison black markets.

2025. Ten deaths are recorded, among them Dontavious Carter, who died January 7, 2025; records describe a contraband-phone video documenting the killing and the GDC's response, and the agency is accused of downplaying violence. In November 2025, reporting described a staffing collapse at Dooly and Washington State Prisons, with housing units left without an officer for hours or entire shifts.

2026. The January 11–12 disturbance began during visitation hours; the GDC said three men died at the scene or shortly after and a fourth, Silas Westbrook, died January 17 after a medical emergency during transfer. A GDC response to a GPS open records request showed six officers on duty at the facility. Twelve incarcerated men were charged in April 2026, and the GDC's investigation remained active. In June 2026, Courtney Davis and Isreal Jones died at the prison; the GDC said the causes were undetermined with no signs of foul play, and its Office of Professional Standards opened investigations. In May 2026, WGXA reported that Luis Alfonso Ramirez ran a drug trafficking network from the prison using contraband cellphones; a federal indictment followed seizure of 35 kg of methamphetamine and 3.5 kg of fentanyl valued at $225,000 plus $145,000 in cash.

Allegations logged against the facility during her tenure include monitored communications describing gang control of housing units, a stabbing during a facility-wide lockdown, unequal commissary limits, deaths following a January 2026 melee, and a gang fight in 2025 that spread to other facilities. Former inmates told 13WMAZ the January riot was the predictable outcome of understaffing and neglect; State Rep. Billy Hitchens alleged, per 41NBC, that the system had not made meaningful progress on jamming or disabling cell-door locks.

Deaths recorded during her tenure at Washington State Prison

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

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — deadly January 2026 brawl, DOJ findings, 2024 shooting death of Jacob Cole Henson, twelve inmates charged
• 13WMAZ — GDC statements on gang affiliation, former inmates' reform accounts, murder charges
• 11Alive — GDC statements on the deadly brawl
• WGXA — fourth death (Silas Westbrook), Ramirez drug-trafficking case
• WFXL — twelve inmates charged in the gang-affiliated disturbance
• 41NBC — DOJ findings, Rep. Billy Hitchens allegations, fourth death confirmation
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 civil rights findings on Georgia prisons
• Georgia Department of Corrections — incident statements, Office of Professional Standards investigations, open records response on staffing
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — 2018 Washington State Prison payout
• GPS case submissions and monitored communications — 2025–2026 incident and condition allegations, registry cause data

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 25, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.