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Dykes, Heather
Status: active
Profile written August 30, 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
Heather Dykes worked in financial staff roles at Dooly State Prison from January 2023 through mid-August 2025, first as a financial operations generalist and then as an accounting technician. GPS records show she moved into a leadership-track post on Aug. 16, 2025, becoming Deputy Warden of Administration at McRae Women’s Facility. A later personnel record also lists her as a Deputy Warden at McRae dated Aug. 27, 2026.GPS records attribute a total of four deaths to Dykes across all postings, all at McRae Women’s Facility during her deputy warden tenure. No lawsuits naming her as a defendant appear in the provided records.
What happened on their watch
Dooly State Prison — staff roles, 2023–2025
Dykes held staff-tier financial positions at Dooly State Prison from Jan. 1, 2023 until Aug. 15, 2025. GPS records do not attribute any leadership-tier deaths to those postings. Broader data from that period, while not tied to Dykes by name, include GPS incident reports describing Dooly operating at 319 percent of its original design capacity with a 50 percent statewide correctional officer vacancy rate, and a GPB report carrying a family allegation that Dooly medical staff delayed care for a man who later died of sepsis. WGXA also reported on a GDC cadet caught in June 2024 with methamphetamine intended for an inmate at Dooly. None of these records identify Dykes as an actor.McRae Women’s Facility — Deputy Warden of Administration, Aug. 16, 2025–present
At McRae Women’s Facility, GPS records show four deaths at the facility during Dykes’s tenure as Deputy Warden of Administration. The decedents were:- Beverly Suzannne Sipple, 59, death recorded March 16, 2026
- Kristal Lyn Layne, 55, death recorded May 10, 2026
- Shannon Michelle Rush, 43, death recorded May 16, 2026
- Chasity King, 26, death recorded May 18, 2026
All four records carry the same cause-category code, 6, in the structured GPS data; the provided records do not state a written cause of death. Two of the four death records — for King and Rush — include notes indicating they were auto-promoted from user reports GPS-DEATH-2026-882AA and GPS-DEATH-2026-D61CA. No intel reports tied to McRae Women’s Facility and no news mentions naming Dykes appear in the record.
Sources
- GPS records — personnel history, deaths by facility, death records, and incident/intelligence extracts
- WGXA — reporting on contraband smuggling at Dooly State Prison
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — 2024 report with family allegation about medical care at Dooly State Prison
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | 2026-08-27 → present |
| Deputy Warden of Administration | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | 2025-08-16 → present |
| ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN 3 | 2025-01-01 → present | |
| ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN 3 | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| Financial Ops Generalist 2 | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| FINANCIAL OPS GENERALIST 2 | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
4 people died at facilities under Dykes, Heather's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-18 | CHASITY KING | 26 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-05-16 | SHANNON MICHELLE RUSH | 43 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-05-10 | KRISTAL LYN LAYNE | 55 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | Deputy Warden of Administration |
| 2026-03-16 | BEVERLY SUZANNNE SIPPLE | 59 | McRAE WOMEN’S FACILITY | Deputy Warden of Administration |
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