Foster, Denisha Gauze

Tenure Summary

Denisha Gauze Foster's documented career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in 2007 as a correctional officer at Wilcox State Prison. From 2021 forward, every recorded position is at Telfair State Prison: unit manager (2021), CSM Correctional Unit Manager across 2023–2024 ($63,272.22 in 2023; $66,310.60 in 2024), Deputy Warden from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15, 2025 ($74,172.65), and Deputy Warden of Security from Jan. 16, 2025 to the present, with a further single-date Deputy Warden record dated Aug. 27, 2026.

Twenty-one deaths are attributed to her leadership tenures — all 21 at Telfair State Prison, per GPS's death records. Each of those records carries the role "Deputy Warden of Security" at the time of death, placing the entire attributed toll inside the period beginning Jan. 16, 2025. Two federal lawsuits naming her as a defendant were filed while she was a CSM Correctional Unit Manager at Telfair. No news reports naming her directly appear in these records.

What happened on their watch

Wilcox State Prison — Correctional Officer (2007). Records list this posting and year only.

Telfair State Prison — Unit Manager / CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2021; 2023–2024). No death in the records is attributed to this posting. It was during this unit-supervisor tenure that two suits were filed against her (see Litigation).

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden (Jan. 1–15, 2025) and Deputy Warden of Security (Jan. 16, 2025–present). This window accounts for all 21 attributed deaths. The earliest recorded is Deandre Moody (age not listed), Jan. 28, 2025 — twelve days after she moved into the security post. The most recent is Kwame Conte McCombs, 37, on July 25, 2026. Ages span 21 (Ezra Dangelo Ford, March 25, 2025) to 63 (Robert Wayne Messer, Sept. 11, 2025). Other named decedents include Preston C. Phelps, 28, and Timothy Wilson, 48.

Altercation deaths recur. Phelps died Dec. 13, 2025 after an altercation with multiple inmates; the GDC Office of Professional Standards investigated the death as a homicide and sent his body to the GBI Crime Lab, per event records. Wilson died after an altercation with another inmate, with a GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation announced June 11, 2026 (the death record is dated June 7, 2026; the event record gives June 11). On July 21, 2025, GDC confirmed an inmate was killed in a fight at the facility. On Sept. 18, 2026, a gang-related fight confined to one dorm injured three inmates, treated at local hospitals; GDC placed all facilities under lockdown, with Telfair remaining locked down.

Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (May 12, 2025), Telfair had 79% of correctional officer positions unfilled — 32 officers for a facility requiring at least 153. The AJC reported Jan. 28, 2026 that Sgt. Desiree Briley helped prisoner James Dylon NeSmith smuggle methamphetamine into Telfair for at least two years, part of the federal "Operation Ghost Busted" prosecution of the Ghost Face Gangsters. A claim filed against the state, reported by the AJC on Jan. 21, 2025, alleged that De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd had renounced gang affiliation, making him a target of prior attacks, and that he was stabbed by several prisoners when no staff were present in the dorm. A 13WMAZ report dated June 29, 2026 described an allegation that an officer responded "if he dies, he dies" when an inmate pleaded for help in extreme heat, in a case the station reported agreed to a $3.2 million settlement.

GPS case submissions from this period include: March 5, 2026 — alleged serious inmate-on-inmate violence with significant injury, a tactical response and a facility-wide shakedown; March 16, 2026 — an anonymous tip of a group altercation that may not have been officially reported; April 1, 2026 — a stabbing that reportedly resulted in lockdown. Inmate Kendall Alfonzo Stevens was accused of a bomb threat against an Atkinson County school (Aug. 21, 2025), with the GBI investigating and referring the file to the Alapaha District Attorney's Office.

Litigation

• Thomas v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00100 (S.D. Ga.), filed Dec. 21, 2023; terminated Feb. 23, 2024. Foster named as a defendant; no outcome amount recorded.
• Hall v. McFarlane, No. 3:23-cv-00094 (S.D. Ga.), filed Nov. 29, 2023; terminated March 4, 2024. Foster named as a defendant; no outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide list and reporting on the De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd claim, Telfair staffing shortfalls, and the Desiree Briley contraband case
• 13WMAZ — June 29, 2026 report on the heat-related death allegation and $3.2 million settlement
• Yahoo News — Aug. 26, 2026 report on the Atkinson County bomb threat allegation
• CourtListener — S.D. Ga. dockets 3:23-cv-00100 and 3:23-cv-00094
• GPS case submissions — March 5, March 16 and April 1, 2026 Telfair incident reports
• GDC Office of Professional Standards and Georgia Bureau of Investigation statements as reported in facility event records

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.