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Flowers, Karen Douglas
Status: active
Profile written July 19, 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 Douglas Flowers has held a succession of leadership positions within the Georgia Department of Corrections, including Chief of Security at Lee State Prison in 2006, Correctional Captain at the same facility by 2019, Deputy Warden at Lee from 2020 through 2021, and Warden of Lee State Prison in 2022. She then served as Warden at Pulaski State Prison from January 2023 until at least April 2025. Across these facility-leadership and deputy-warden tenures, GPS records attribute a total of 11 deaths of incarcerated individuals to her watch: three at Lee State Prison and eight at Pulaski State Prison. During her tenure at Pulaski, the prison was the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation, one of her deputy wardens was arrested on sexual-contact charges, and one pending federal lawsuit names Flowers as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Lee State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2020–2021; Warden, 2022)
While Flowers served as Deputy Warden at Lee State Prison, three deaths occurred at the facility. According to GPS records, Anthony Wilbert Cheek, 49, died on March 26, 2020; Phillip E. Patterson, 63, died on April 4, 2020; and Pedro Perez-Robles, 38, died on May 28, 2021. All three deaths are listed under cause category 6. No deaths at Lee are attributed to her subsequent year as Warden in 2022.Pulaski State Prison (Warden, January 2023 – April 2025)
Flowers began her tenure as Warden at Pulaski State Prison in January 2023. GPS records attribute eight deaths to this period: Sandra Sipsy, 54 (January 2023); Pharina S. Peterson, 75 (May 2023); Cynthia McCain, 65 (September 2023); Sheila Britton, 60 (September 2023); Ramada Lesha Butts, 52 (April 2024); Tracy Michelle Graves, 45 (May 2024); Lesley Bell Owens, 49 (July 2024); and Stephanie Sabrina Gary, 55 (March 2025). The death of Stephanie Gary was later classified as natural (cancer) by the Pulaski County coroner; the other seven deaths are recorded under cause category 6 in GPS data.On July 15, 2023, a disturbance broke out at the prison: according to GPS records, 11 inmates destroyed building property using weapons including broomsticks, a crowbar, and shanks; nine security staff responded and chemical spray was deployed. In May 2024, Deputy Warden Alonzo L. McMillian was arrested on charges of having sexual contact with a prisoner on February 24–25, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. McMillian was terminated by the GDC the same day. The U.S. Department of Justice released a report in October 2024 documenting constitutional violations within the prison system, based on investigations spanning 2022–2023 — a period that overlapped Flowers’ first year as warden at Pulaski. Meanwhile, the State of Georgia paid a liability settlement of $85,000 in January 2024 for an incident at Pulaski (Makayah Howard), per the GA DOAS Risk Management ledger. Separate Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting also identifies Pulaski as the site of multiple alleged failures to provide adequate medical care, including a case that left Mollianne Fischer in a vegetative state in 2014 and the pneumonia death of Bonnie Rocheleau in 2015, although those incidents predate Flowers’ tenure.
Litigation
- Williams v. Oliver (No. 5:24-cv-00471, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia), filed December 17, 2024. The case is pending; Flowers is named as a defendant. No further outcome is recorded.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reports on arrest of Deputy Warden McMillian, alleged inadequate medical care at Pulaski, and DOJ investigation
- U.S. Department of Justice — civil rights investigation report documenting constitutional violations at Georgia prisons (released October 2024)
- GPS records — personnel positions, death totals, death records, intel events (disturbance, settlement payouts)
- GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger — Makayah Howard settlement ($85,000, Pulaski, 2024)
- Court records — Williams v. Oliver (5:24-cv-00471, GAMD)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 2 | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| Warden | PULASKI STATE PRISON | 2023-09-01 → 2025-04-15 |
| WARDEN 1 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-08-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | LEE STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | LEE STATE PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | LEE STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | 2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CORRECTION OPERATIONS | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Chief of Security | LEE STATE PRISON | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:24-cv-00471 | GAMD | 2024-12-17 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
11 people died at facilities under Flowers, Karen Douglas's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-05 | STEPHANIE SABRINA GARY | 55 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2024-07-23 | LESLEY BELL OWENS | 49 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2024-05-16 | TRACY MICHELLE GRAVES | 45 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2024-04-16 | RAMADA LESHA BUTTS | 52 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2023-09-22 | SHEILA BRITTON | 60 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2023-09-03 | CYNTHIA MCCAIN | 65 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2023-05-01 | PHARINA S PETERSON | 75 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2023-01-24 | SANDRA SIPSY | 54 | PULASKI STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2021-05-28 | PEDRO PEREZ-ROBLES | 38 | LEE STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2020-04-04 | PHILLIP E PATTERSON | 63 | LEE STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2020-03-26 | ANTHONY WILBERT CHEEK | 49 | LEE STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
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