Finch, Karen Ruth

Tenure Summary

Karen Ruth Finch began her Georgia Department of Corrections career as a Correctional Officer at Coastal State Prison in 2009, then spent roughly a decade in clinical and program roles — Behavioral Health Counselor (2015–2017) and Social Services Program Consultant 3 (2018–2020) — before moving into facility leadership. She was Deputy Warden at Rogers State Prison from 2021 through 2023, and in the January–July 2024 window records list her simultaneously as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Rogers State Prison and as Deputy Warden at Coastal State Prison. Since August 2024 she has been Deputy Warden of Security at Coastal State Prison, with additional Deputy Warden postings there recorded in 2025 and 2026. Her status is active.

Records attribute 63 deaths to her leadership tenures: 54 at Coastal State Prison and 9 at Rogers State Prison. No lawsuit in these records names Finch as a defendant. Two lawsuits concerning deaths at Coastal State Prison were filed in January 2025 while she was Deputy Warden of Security there, and a Georgia Department of Public Health inspection of Coastal in April 2026 issued a failing grade of 70.

What happened on their watch

Rogers State Prison — Deputy Warden (2021–2023); Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (Jan–Jul 2024)

Nine deaths are recorded at Rogers during Finch's tenure there. Chad Walker Jeter died March 17, 2021 (age 43); Michael Glenn McKee died May 22, 2021 (59); Jeremy Lasean Walton died June 12, 2021 (31); Timothy Brent Jenkins died April 7, 2022 (22); Caleb Sexton died April 22, 2022 (21); Bradley Lyle Weitzel died March 21, 2023 (40); William Joseph Smiley died August 15, 2023 (41); Randall Henry Baker died December 6, 2023 (38); and Shawn Remar Johnson died July 23, 2024 (34), the last occurring while Finch held the Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment role. Six of the nine were in their twenties, thirties or early forties. No intel reports or news mentions in these records are tied to her Rogers tenure.

Coastal State Prison — Deputy Warden (Jan–Jul 2024); Deputy Warden of Security (Aug 2024–present)

Records attribute 54 deaths at Coastal to Finch's leadership tenure — the largest share of her total. GPS's death registry names the following decedents. Sheldon Leroy Burns died August 30, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. Phillip Alexander George died July 16, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 66. Corey Marcel Mitchell died July 15, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 50. Bobby Clinton Biggs died June 25, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 77. Ronald Tyrone Waller died June 10, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 57. Rene Alvarado Salazar died April 19, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 38. Mark Jr Young died April 17, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 75. Terry Kendall died February 27, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 67. Stanley Brown died February 27, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 61. Anteveis Brown died February 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 49. Aiden Snapp died February 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 21. Richard Parks died February 21, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 62. Malik Ortiz died February 12, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 29. Dejarvis Walker died February 9, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 25. Michael Garcia died February 1, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 45. Thomas Lee Garrison died January 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 78. Deandre Martez Walker died January 22, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 37. Jabe Clark died January 17, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 32. Kevin Lloyd Strickland died January 13, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 52. James Dion Gilmore died December 26, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 46. Thomas Jacob Johnson died December 23, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 57. Jeffrey Brandon Deaton died December 20, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Nelson Nmn Williams died December 4, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 54. James Joseph Reinke died November 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 66. Thomas Floyd East died November 18, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; cause Unknown/Pending, age 71.

The registry records Unknown/Pending causes for most of these deaths, and homicides for Aiden Snapp and Anteveis Brown. A WTOC-reported event on February 26, 2026, described "a second death in one week" at Coastal, and a March 3, 2026, event reported two inmate deaths in one day; the registry entries do not identify those decedents further.

Allegations recorded at Coastal during Finch's Deputy Warden of Security tenure include a WTOC report of February 12, 2026, in which workers and inmates described a "human rights crisis": lockdowns of seven to ten days without shower access, food withheld as punishment, alleged regular beatings by correctional officers, black mold and rodent infestations, HVAC failures, and GDC records showing no correctional officers disciplined for violence against inmates over a six-month period in 2025. The same reporting cites DOJ findings criticizing Georgia prisons, including Coastal, for overusing lockdowns and isolation, and notes a federal judge scolding Commissioner Tyrone Oliver for "failure to comply with court orders." A WALB report of February 13, 2026, alleged that a March 2020 assault at Coastal was forwarded for investigation but that no records of an investigation exist, and that the same individual later strangled a cellmate elsewhere. A Georgia Department of Public Health inspection on April 23, 2026, scored Coastal 70 and cited live roaches, a dead mouse in backed-up mop water, mold-like growth on kitchen ceiling tiles, fish and chicken held below the required 135°F, and broken equipment; the facility was given until May 3 to correct the issues, and records show health scores declining from 87 in February 2025 to 80 in October and 70 at the most recent inspection. Maintenance records obtained by WTOC showed more than $5,000 spent on pest control from May to November 2025, while GDC said it had no records related to mold remediation. An inmate witness reported on May 9, 2026, that kitchen closure for pest extermination sharply reduced meal service. On May 13–14, 2026, reports alleged five inmates were indicted for a violent assault, that a Coastal employee traded with inmates without the warden's consent (the employee was arrested January 23, 2026), and that a human rights crisis was ongoing. Two public Facebook posts — August 31 and September 5, 2026 — from formerly incarcerated people alleged killings, beatings, restraints, stabbings and a lack of intervention by CERT members and officers. David Stokes was reassigned as Warden at Coastal effective June 1, 2026.

Litigation

• Lawsuit in the death of Rufus Ramon Lee — filed January 21, 2025, per Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting; the suit, brought by Lee's mother, alleges that a broken cell lock allowed assailants from other cells and dorms to reach and kill him. Filed while Finch was Deputy Warden of Security at Coastal.
• Lawsuit in the death of Kion E. Parks — filed January 21, 2025, per Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting; the suit alleges five inmates stabbed Parks to death at Coastal State Prison on September 14, 2021, a date before Finch's Coastal tenure.

No lawsuit in these records names Finch as a defendant.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicide reporting; lawsuits in the deaths of Rufus Ramon Lee and Kion E. Parks (January 21, 2025)
• WTOC — February 12, 2026 human rights crisis reporting and February 15, 2026 inmate death report; maintenance and pest-control records
• WALB — February 13, 2026 report on the 2020 Coastal assault
• The Georgia Virtue — April 24, 2026 coverage of the Coastal State Prison health inspection
• Georgia Department of Public Health — Coastal State Prison inspection, April 23, 2026 (grade 70)
• Facebook public posts — first-person accounts dated August 31 and September 5, 2026
• DOJ investigation findings as cited in WTOC reporting
• Court records and the GPS death registry

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.