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Flowers, Karen Douglas
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 Douglas Flowers rose through the Georgia Department of Corrections from a Chief of Security post at Lee State Prison in 2006 to hold the top leadership roles at two facilities. She served as Deputy Warden at Lee (2020–2021), then as Warden at Lee (2022) before being assigned to lead Pulaski State Prison from January 2023 through April 2025. During the periods she held a facility deputy or facility lead role, GPS records document 11 in‑custody deaths across the facilities she oversaw — three at Lee and eight at Pulaski. Her wardenship at Pulaski coincided with an active U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation, the arrest of her own deputy warden for sexual misconduct, and a series of inmate fatalities that drew press and family scrutiny.What happened on their watch
Lee State Prison (Deputy Warden, 2020–2021)
Three deaths occurred at Lee while Flowers was the facility’s deputy warden. Anthony Wilbert Cheek, 49, died on March 26, 2020; Phillip E. Patterson, 63, on April 4, 2020; and Pedro Perez-Robles, 38, on May 28, 2021. GPS records classify each of these deaths under category 6 (undetermined/unknown). No lawsuits naming Flowers in connection with these deaths appear in the provided records.
Pulaski State Prison (Warden, January 2023 – April 2025)
During Flowers’ tenure as Warden — initially as Warden 1 from January to August 2023, then as Warden from September 2023 through April 2025, and also concurrently holding a Warden 2 classification in 2024‑2025 — eight incarcerated women died in custody. The decedents, per GPS data, are:
- Sandra Sipsy, 54 (Jan. 24, 2023, category 6)
- Pharina S. Peterson, 75 (May 1, 2023, category 6)
- Cynthia McCain, 65 (Sept. 3, 2023, category 6)
- Sheila Britton, 60 (Sept. 22, 2023, category 6)
- Ramada Lesha Butts, 52 (Apr. 16, 2024, category 6)
- Tracy Michelle Graves, 45 (May 16, 2024, category 6)
- Lesley Bell Owens, 49 (July 23, 2024, category 6)
- Stephanie Sabrina Gary, 55 (Mar. 5, 2025, originally category 6, later reclassified to natural/medical per a Pulaski County coroner’s report).
The DOJ investigation of Georgia prisons — which began in 2022 and documented constitutional violations at Pulaski, including inadequate protection from violence and severe understaffing — overlapped Flowers’ tenure. In July 2023, a disturbance erupted when inmates used broomsticks, a crowbar, shanks, and other weapons to destroy property; nine staff responded with chemical spray. In May 2024, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deputy Warden Alonzo L. McMillian was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a prisoner and engaging in improper sexual contact on February 24‑25; he was immediately terminated by GDC. In January 2025, the AJC reported that staff at Pulaski failed to notice a prisoner had been stabbed until an outside caller alerted them, and the victim said she had been assaulted hours earlier by as many as ten people. A family member’s allegation submitted to GPS further described mistreatment of a loved one at the prison while Flowers was warden. Two earlier medical‑neglect cases at the same facility — the 2014 vegetative state of Mollianne Fischer and the 2015 pneumonia death of Bonnie Rocheleau — resulted in $1.5 million and $925,000 settlements in 2025, respectively, reflecting a long‑standing pattern of inadequate care at Pulaski that predated Flowers but formed part of the institutional backdrop of her leadership.
Litigation
- Williams v. Oliver, 5:24-cv-00471, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, filed Dec. 17, 2024 (pending).
- Robert M Taylor Iii v. Piedmont Healthcare Inc, 1:24-cv-00019, S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 16, 2024 (pending).
- Willis v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 5:23-cv-00430, M.D. Ga., filed Oct. 26, 2023, terminated Jan. 23, 2026.
- Taylor v. University Health Services Inc, 1:23-cv-00047, S.D. Ga., filed Apr. 19, 2023, terminated Dec. 14, 2023.
- In Re Equifax Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, 1:17-md-02800, N.D. Ga., filed Dec. 6, 2017, terminated Apr. 13, 2022.
Sources
- GPS personnel and death records for Karen Douglas Flowers, including total deaths attributed (11), facility breakdown, and individual decedent names, dates, and cause categories.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigative reports on the Mollianne Fischer and Bonnie Rocheleau settlements, the arrest of Deputy Warden McMillian, the stabbing not noticed by staff, and the DOJ investigation of Georgia prisons.
- GPS intel reports — family allegation submitted by Thasmia Foster; stabbing incident and McMillian arrest details.
- U.S. Department of Justice — civil rights investigation documents (2022‑2024) documenting constitutional violations at Pulaski State Prison.
- CourtListener dockets for the five lawsuits listed as naming Flowers as a defendant.
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 |
| 1:24-cv-00019 | GASD | 2024-02-16 | pending |
| 5:23-cv-00430 | GAMD | 2023-10-26 | terminated |
| 1:23-cv-00047 | GASD | 2023-04-19 | terminated |
| 1:17-md-02800 | GAND | 2017-12-06 | terminated |
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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