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Finch, Karen Ruth
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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
Karen Ruth Finch first entered the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2009 as a correctional officer at Coastal State Prison, then spent several years in behavioral health, counseling, and social services roles before rising to leadership. Her first posting with facility-level accountability came in 2021, when she became Deputy Warden at Rogers State Prison. She transferred to Coastal State Prison as Deputy Warden in January 2024, and by August 2024 had assumed the role of Deputy Warden of Security, a position she holds as of the latest records. During the period encompassing her deputy‑warden tenures, GPS records attribute a total of 69 deaths to the facilities she served: 8 at Rogers State Prison (2021‑2023) and 61 at Coastal State Prison (2024‑present). Her time at Coastal State coincided with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found the facility — along with other Georgia prisons — violated the Eighth Amendment, as well as a cascade of health‑code failures and media‑documented allegations of a human‑rights crisis.
What happened on their watch
Rogers State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2021‑2023)
Finch served as Deputy Warden at Rogers State Prison from January 2021 through December 2023. During that three‑year span, GPS records show eight incarcerated men died there. Their ages ranged from 21 to 59. All eight deaths are classified under cause category 6, a catch‑all indicating an unnatural death not otherwise specified in the data provided. The decedents were: Jeremy Lasean Walton (31, June 2021), Michael Glenn McKee (59, May 2021), Chad Walker Jeter (43, March 2021), Caleb Sexton (21, April 2022), Timothy Brent Jenkins (22, April 2022), Randall Henry Baker (38, December 2023), William Joseph Smiley (41, August 2023), and Bradley Lyle Weitzel (40, March 2023). No publicly reported lawsuits or intel allegations directly tied to Finch’s role at Rogers appear in the GPS dataset covering her tenure there, though an unrelated death — Taylor Hunt’s, ruled a suicide but disputed by evidence — occurred in September 2024, after Finch had already transferred to Coastal State.Coastal State Prison (Deputy Warden / Deputy Warden of Security, 2024‑present)
Finch arrived at Coastal State Prison as Deputy Warden in January 2024 and was named Deputy Warden of Security in August 2024. GPS records count 61 deaths at the facility during her Coastal State tenure, spanning January 2024 through late February 2026. The overwhelming majority of the deaths carry cause category 6, but two incidents stand out as homicides with detailed injury descriptions. In February 2026, Aiden Snapp (21) “was brutally beaten and died of massive head injuries resulting in brain death and internal bleeding from a liver injury,” while Anteveis Brown (49) was reportedly killed in a dorm‑wide assault, according to inmate accounts. Two other deaths — Lloyd Chapman (acute respiratory failure) and Ricky Chamblee (acute respiratory failure with hypoxia/DVT/COPD) — are listed as natural causes (category 1).Her tenure unfolded against a backdrop of extraordinary systemic scrutiny. A 2024 U.S. DOJ investigation concluded that the Georgia Department of Corrections, including Coastal State, failed to protect incarcerated people from violence and unconstitutional conditions. In February 2026, WTOC published an exposé in which workers and prisoners alleged a human‑rights crisis at the prison: regular beatings by officers, food withheld as punishment, lockdowns of seven to ten days without showers, and crumbling infrastructure infested with rats, mice, and black mold. The same reporting cited GDC records showing no correctional officers were disciplined for violence against inmates over a six‑month period in 2025. Meanwhile, The Georgia Virtue documented a Georgia Department of Public Health inspection in April 2026 that gave Coastal State a failing score of 70, flagging live roaches, a dead mouse in backed‑up mop water, mold‑like growth on kitchen ceiling tiles, food held at unsafe temperatures (122°F fish, 98°F chicken), a mildew‑laden ice machine, and broken plumbing — all repeat violations. The facility’s health score had declined steadily from 87 in February 2025. Lawsuits filed by families of previously killed prisoners, including the mother of Rufus Ramon Lee, allege that broken cell locks and lax security enabled fatal assaults, though those deaths predate Finch’s Coastal State tenure.
Litigation
- In Re Equifax Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 1:17-md-02800 (N.D. Ga., filed Dec. 6, 2017, terminated Apr. 13, 2022). Finch is listed as a defendant in this consolidated consumer data‑breach class action. The case is unrelated to her correctional work and predates her deputy‑warden roles.
Sources
- GPS death and personnel records — total deaths attributed (69), deaths by facility, and individual decedent listings for Rogers State Prison (8) and Coastal State Prison (61).
- U.S. Department of Justice, 2024 investigation finding Georgia prisons violate Eighth Amendment (specifically referencing Coastal State Prison).
- WTOC, Feb. 12, 2026 — “Workers, inmates report human rights crisis at Coastal State Prison” (allegations of beatings, food denial, unsanitary conditions, lockdowns, and lack of officer discipline).
- The Georgia Virtue, April 2025 inspection report (published May 2026) — documenting roaches, dead mouse, mold, improper food temperatures, and repeat health violations at Coastal State Prison.
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — homicide list referencing lawsuits over deaths of Kion E. Parks and Rufus Ramon Lee at Coastal State Prison (deaths occurred in 2021, prior to Finch’s tenure, but law‑enforcement and facility conditions remained relevant).
- CourtListener — docket entry for In Re Equifax Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden of Security | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2024-08-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| SOCIAL SVCS PRGM CONSULTANT 3 | 2018-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Correctional Officer | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2009-01-01 → 2009-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:17-md-02800 | GAND | 2017-12-06 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
69 people died at facilities under Finch, Karen Ruth's leadership.
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