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Epperson, Alicia

Status: active

Profile written August 30, 2026

Current Position Superintendent Women’s Probation Detention Center

Salary $79,915 2025 · state payroll

Deaths Under Their Watch 5 during their tenure

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

Epperson, Alicia began her Georgia Department of Corrections career as a correctional officer at Georgia State Prison in 2007, later holding secretary, lieutenant, and unit manager posts there through 2019. She was a unit manager at Smith State Prison in 2020, deputy warden at Montgomery State Prison in 2021, deputy warden at Smith State Prison in 2022, deputy warden at the Women’s Probation Detention Center in 2023, and superintendent there from June 16, 2024 through 2025. GPS records also show a one-day Montgomery State Prison deputy warden entry dated Nov. 22, 2023.

GPS records attribute five deaths to Epperson’s leadership-tenure record, all at Smith State Prison during her 2022 deputy warden posting. No deaths are attributed to her Georgia State Prison, Montgomery State Prison, or Women’s Probation Detention Center postings.

What happened on their watch

Georgia State Prison (2007–2019)

Epperson held correctional officer, secretary, lieutenant, and unit manager roles at Georgia State Prison over these years. GPS records show no deaths attributed to her there. The Georgia Virtue reported allegations about conditions at Georgia State Prison, including that a prisoner was placed in solitary confinement in July 2019 and held for months without required 30-day segregation hearings — a period overlapping Epperson’s final year there as unit manager. The reports do not name Epperson.

Smith State Prison (2020 unit manager; 2022 deputy warden)

GPS records show no deaths attributed to Epperson’s 2020 unit-manager year at Smith State Prison.

In her 2022 posting as deputy warden, Epperson held the deputy warden role when five deaths occurred. The records name:

Michael Lewis Turner, 38, died May 14, 2022. GBI autopsy records list the cause as methamphetamine and synthetic cannabinoid toxicity complicating coronary atherosclerotic disease, manner accident.
Jerome Tisdol, 67, died May 28, 2022. GPS records state the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences declined to perform an autopsy after a coroner requested one, leaving cause of death to the county coroner; GPS records describe this as a documented instance of the no-examination mechanism.
Manuel Villagomez, 24, died Sept. 16, 2022. GBI autopsy records list hanging, manner suicide; GPS records place him in the Smith State Prison hanging cluster.
Nathan Michael Mahan, 37, died Oct. 23, 2022. His cause of death was stab wounds, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation.
Juan Miguel Orduna, 39, died Oct. 25, 2022. GBI autopsy records list hanging, manner suicide; GPS records also place him in the hanging cluster.

Across those deaths, GPS records document two hangings ruled suicide, one stabbing, one accidental drug toxicity death, and one case in which state forensic examiners declined to examine. The same 2022 posting overlapped with broader scrutiny: per GPS records, the U.S. Department of Justice had been scrutinizing the Georgia prison system since September 2021, and The Georgia Virtue reported allegations that then-Warden Brian Adams made false statements in an April 13, 2022 interview about not being solicited or bribed. Those reports name Adams, not Epperson.

Montgomery State Prison (2021; one-day 2023 entry)

GPS records show no deaths attributed to Epperson’s 2021 deputy warden tenure at Montgomery State Prison, nor to the single-day deputy warden entry dated Nov. 22, 2023.

Women’s Probation Detention Center (2023; 2024–2025)

GPS records show no deaths attributed to Epperson’s 2023 deputy warden tenure or her subsequent superintendent tenure at the Women’s Probation Detention Center.

Litigation

Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191, N.D. Ga., filed June 6, 2025, terminated March 30, 2026. CourtListener lists the case as terminated; no outcome amount is recorded. GPS records associate this matter with Epperson as a defendant.

Sources

Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (Nathan Michael Mahan stab wounds)
GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy records via GPS GBI archive (Turner, Villagomez, Orduna)
GBI Division of Forensic Sciences consultation record (Tisdol)
The Georgia Virtue — reporting on Georgia State Prison segregation allegations and Smith State Prison warden allegations, including the April 13, 2022 interview
U.S. Department of Justice / GPS intelligence record — scrutiny of GDC since September 2021
CourtListener — Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order docket, No. 1:25-cv-03191

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 30, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.

Positions Held

Title	Facility	Tenure
Correctional Superintendent	WOMEN’S PROBATION DETENTION CENTER	2026-08-27 → present
CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT	WOMEN’S PROBATION DETENTION CENTER	2025-01-01 → present
Superintendent	WOMEN’S PROBATION DETENTION CENTER	2024-06-16 → present
CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT		2024-01-01 → 2024-06-15
Deputy Warden	MONTGOMERY STATE PRISON	2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22
DEPUTY WARDEN	WOMEN’S PROBATION DETENTION CENTER	2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31
DEPUTY WARDEN	SMITH STATE PRISON	2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31
DEPUTY WARDEN	MONTGOMERY STATE PRISON	2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31
CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER	SMITH STATE PRISON	2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31
CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31
CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31
SECRETARY (AL)	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31
Secretary	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2012-01-01 → 2012-12-31
Correctional Officer II	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2008-01-01 → 2008-12-31
Correctional Officer	GEORGIA STATE PRISON	2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31

Lawsuits as defendant

Case #	Court	Filed	Status
1:25-cv-03191	GAND	2025-06-06	terminated

Deaths attributed during tenure

5 people died at facilities under Epperson, Alicia's leadership.

Date	Decedent	Age	Facility	Role at time
2022-10-25	JUAN MIGUEL ORDUNA	39	SMITH STATE PRISON	DEPUTY WARDEN
2022-10-23	NATHAN MICHAEL MAHAN	37	SMITH STATE PRISON	DEPUTY WARDEN
2022-09-16	MANUEL VILLAGOMEZ	24	SMITH STATE PRISON	DEPUTY WARDEN
2022-05-28	JEROME TISDOL	67	SMITH STATE PRISON	DEPUTY WARDEN
2022-05-14	MICHAEL LEWIS TURNER	38	SMITH STATE PRISON	DEPUTY WARDEN

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