Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Emmons, Shawn F
Emmons, Shawn F
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 2026
Current Position
Assistant Director For The Southwest Region
Salary
$112,500
2025 · state payroll
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
Shawn F. Emmons has served in the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2013, rising from deputy warden roles to warden of multiple high-security prisons before being appointed Assistant Director for the Southwest Region in July 2025. Over his facility-leadership tenures at Johnson State Prison (2016), Wilcox State Prison (2017), Valdosta State Prison (2018–2021), Hays State Prison (2022), and Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2023–mid‑2025), GPS records attribute a total of 72 deaths — 52 at the Diagnostic prison, 12 at Valdosta, and 8 at Hays. Emmons has been named as a defendant in at least a dozen federal civil‑rights lawsuits, several of which remain pending. During his wardenships, the facilities he led were the subject of repeated allegations of severe understaffing, corruption by staff, and fatal violence, as reported by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution and reflected in court records.
What happened on their watch
Johnson State Prison (2016) and Wilcox State Prison (2017)
Emmons held the Warden 1 post at Johnson State Prison in 2016 and at Wilcox State Prison in 2017. GPS records document no deaths attributed to either facility during his single‑year tenures.Valdosta State Prison (2018–2021)
Emmons served as Warden 1 and later Warden 3 from mid‑2018 through the end of 2021. GPS records attribute 12 deaths to the prison during that period. Among the sample decedents, three were classified as homicides by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s investigation: Prince Blige, 54, died of a stab wound to the torso on Feb. 12, 2020; Orvonta Casmir Tillman, 36, died from multiple sharp‑force penetrating trauma to the thorax on June 16, 2020; and Bobby Lane Carpenter, 31, died from a stab wound to the chest on Sept. 9, 2020. The remaining deaths in the sample (e.g., Johnny Claude Mitchell, Brandon Omar Weaver, Gary Thomas Keown, Shannon Small, Michael Lee Vaughn, Stanley Ward, Ralph Bell Johnson, Norman Leon Davis, Ray Starlin Nichols) carry a cause category indicating a non‑homicide or unspecified manner; their specific causes were not available in the records provided. Intelligence reports filed later alleged that staff smuggling rings and severe understaffing — at times 80 percent of correctional‑officer positions vacant — plagued the prison, though the dates of those reports largely post‑date Emmons’s tenure.Hays State Prison (2022)
Emmons was Warden 3 at Hays State Prison throughout 2022. Eight deaths are attributed to the facility during his tenure. The AJC investigation identified one homicide: Quintez Deshon Smith, 25, who died from multiple sharp‑force injuries on Aug. 29, 2022. The other seven decedents (Robert Lee Burton, Tony Christopher Williams, John Terrell Bohannon, Alberto Eddie Deleon, Yaheed Tyquan Brooks, Manuel Mendoza‑Garcia, Scott Conway Pinholster) are recorded without a homicide designation. While Emmons was warden, Lieutenant Lakeshia Thomas was convicted in April 2022 for smuggling marijuana for a Gangster Disciples member at the prison, according to the AJC.Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2023–mid‑2025)
Emmons held the Warden 3 / Warden post at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison from January 2023 through mid‑July 2025. During this period, GPS records attribute 52 deaths — the highest per‑facility total in his career. The facility, which houses the state’s death row and diagnostic unit, was reported in January 2026 to be operating at 568 percent of its original 1968 design capacity, with 4,540 people held in a building designed for 800. Among the sample decedents, the AJC investigation documented at least two homicides: Carrell D. Johnson, 32, died from chopping injuries of the head and sharp‑force injuries on June 6, 2023, and Elmer W. Pless, 65, died from strangulation on May 15, 2023. The sample also includes William Rhodes, 38, whose death in February 2025 was reported as a homicide, and Brandon Trace Burrell, 31, who the AJC alleged was assaulted by another inmate. Other notable deaths in the sample include Joshua Mark Holliday, 43, who died by suicide according to a GBI autopsy, and Willie James Pye, 59, who was executed by the state on March 20, 2024. The remaining decedents in the sample — including multiple individuals dying in rapid succession in late 2023 and throughout 2024 — carry cause categories that do not specify homicide; their precise causes are not detailed in the available records.Litigation
- Martin v. Emmons, No. 1:18‑cv‑04617 (N.D. Ga., filed Oct. 3, 2018) — pending.
- Battle v. Emmons, No. 7:20‑cv‑00106 (M.D. Ga., filed June 4, 2020) — terminated Sept. 30, 2022.
- Burns v. Emmons, No. 7:22‑cv‑00036 (M.D. Ga., filed Apr. 8, 2022) — terminated Dec. 5, 2022.
- Daker v. Emmons, No. 4:23‑cv‑00213 (N.D. Ga., filed Sept. 22, 2023) — terminated Feb. 20, 2024.
- Pye v. Oliver, No. 3:24‑cv‑00048 (N.D. Ga., filed Mar. 11, 2024) — terminated Mar. 15, 2024.
- Pace v. Oliver, No. 1:24‑cv‑01557 (N.D. Ga., filed Apr. 12, 2024) — terminated Sept. 13, 2024.
- Daker v. Oliver, No. 1:24‑cv‑02687 (N.D. Ga., filed June 20, 2024) — pending.
- Nance v. Oliver, No. 1:20‑cv‑00107 (N.D. Ga., filed Jan. 8, 2020) — terminated Feb. 13, 2025.
- Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25‑cv‑03191 (N.D. Ga., filed June 6, 2025) — terminated Mar. 30, 2026.
- Miller v. Holt, No. 5:25‑cv‑00356 (M.D. Ga., filed Aug. 25, 2025) — pending.
- Gumm v. Jacobs, No. 5:15‑cv‑00041 (M.D. Ga., filed Feb. 12, 2015) — terminated May 7, 2019.
- Towry v. Stacey Nicholson, No. 2:15‑cv‑00172 (N.D. Ga., filed Aug. 17, 2015) — terminated Oct. 25, 2017.
Sources
- GPS mortality and personnel database — death counts and career timelines.
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (multiple individual decedents, staffing shortage reports, officer criminal cases).
- CourtListener / federal court dockets — case filings and statuses for the listed lawsuits.
- GBI autopsy report for Joshua Mark Holliday (via DOFS case 2024‑1029773) — cause and manner of death.
- GDC official mortality reports (CY2024) — date‑of‑death confirmation for Holliday.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Director for the Southwest Region | 2025-07-16 → present | |
| WARDEN 3 | 2025-01-01 → present | |
| WARDEN 3 | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| Warden | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-07-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| WARDEN 3 | HAYS STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| WARDEN 3 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2018-07-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00356 | GAMD | 2025-08-25 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-03191 | GAND | 2025-06-06 | terminated |
| 1:24-cv-02687 | GAND | 2024-06-20 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-01557 | GAND | 2024-04-12 | terminated |
| 3:24-cv-00048 | GAND | 2024-03-11 | terminated |
| 4:23-cv-00213 | GAND | 2023-09-22 | terminated |
| 7:22-cv-00036 | GAMD | 2022-04-08 | terminated |
| 7:20-cv-00106 | GAMD | 2020-06-04 | terminated |
| 1:20-cv-00107 | GAND | 2020-01-08 | terminated |
| 1:18-cv-04617 | GAND | 2018-10-03 | pending |
| 2:15-cv-00172 | GAND | 2015-08-17 | terminated |
| 5:15-cv-00041 | GAMD | 2015-02-12 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
72 people died at facilities under Emmons, Shawn F's leadership.
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