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Foster, Denisha Gauze
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 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
Denisha Gauze Foster entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Wilcox State Prison in 2007. GPS records show she later moved to Telfair State Prison, holding unit-manager postings in 2021, 2023, and 2024. On Jan. 1, 2025, she became deputy warden at Telfair, and on Jan. 16, 2025, she became Deputy Warden of Security, the role reflected in the most recent GPS records. Across her facility-leader tenure, GPS records attribute 21 deaths at Telfair State Prison, all during her time as Deputy Warden of Security. Two federal suits in the Southern District of Georgia list Foster as a defendant; both were filed in 2023 and terminated in 2024, with no settlement amount recorded.
What happened on their watch
Wilcox State Prison — Correctional Officer, 2007. GPS records show no deaths attributed to this staff-tier posting. The 2026-era Wilcox intel and incident reports in the GPS database do not overlap this 2007 tenure.
Telfair State Prison — Unit Manager, 2021, 2023–2024. GPS records show no deaths attributed to Foster’s unit-manager postings. While she held a unit-manager role in 2023, two federal lawsuits listing her as a defendant were filed in the Southern District of Georgia: Thomas v. White in December 2023 and Hall v. Mcfarlane in November 2023. Both were terminated in early 2024.
Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, Jan. 16, 2025–present. GPS records attribute 21 deaths to Foster’s Deputy Warden of Security tenure, from Deandre Moody on Jan. 28, 2025, through Kwame Conte McCombs on July 25, 2026. In GPS cause-category coding, five deaths fall under homicide-related category 3, three under drug/overdose-related category 5, one under suicide category 2, one under natural category 1, and eleven under unknown/pending category 6. Decedent ages ranged from 21 — Ezra Dangelo Ford — to 63 — Robert Wayne Messer.
Telfair County Coroner records list stabbing homicides for Malindzo Eddy Hatcher in July 2025, Lester James Smith in June 2025, and Preston C. Phelps in December 2025. A GDC-released January 2025 mortality report listed Deandre Moody’s cause as “Homicide due to Strangulation.” GBI autopsy records cited in GPS files list David Lane Campbell’s death as acute methamphetamine intoxication, manner accident; Robert Wayne Messer’s death as acute MDMB-4en-PINACA intoxication, manner accident; and Robert Baker’s death as hanging, manner suicide. For Baker, GPS records flag that a GDC incident report classified the death as undetermined and listed a second offender as directly involved, while the autopsy noted abrasions on both hands, including the knuckles. A Telfair County Coroner certificate lists Eric Bernard Haynes’s death as an acute myocardial infarction, manner natural.
During this tenure, the GDC Office of Professional Standards investigated the December 2025 death of Preston C. Phelps as a homicide and the June 2026 altercation death of Timothy Wilson, according to GPS records. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution report logged by GPS said Telfair State Prison had 79% of correctional officer positions unfilled as of March, leaving 32 officers for a facility requiring at least 153. In June 2026, 13WMAZ reported that the family of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano reached a $3.2 million settlement with the state over his 2023 heat-related death at Telfair; that underlying death predates Foster’s deputy-warden tenure.
Litigation
- Thomas v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00100, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, filed Dec. 21, 2023; terminated Feb. 23, 2024. Outcome amount not recorded.
- Hall v. Mcfarlane, No. 3:23-cv-00094, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, filed Nov. 29, 2023; terminated Mar. 4, 2024. Outcome amount not recorded.
Sources
- GPS personnel and death-attribution records
- Telfair County Coroner records, 2025–2026
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy records cited in GPS files
- GDC January 2025 mortality report and GDC incident records
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — staffing and Telfair State Prison coverage
- 13WMAZ, WTOC, and WGXA — Telfair death and settlement coverage
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia dockets via CourtListener
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| Deputy Warden of Security | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2025-01-16 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| CSM Correctional Unit Manager | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Unit Manager | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:23-cv-00100 | GASD | 2023-12-21 | terminated |
| 3:23-cv-00094 | GASD | 2023-11-29 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
21 people died at facilities under Foster, Denisha Gauze's leadership.
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