Foston, Jeremy Andrew

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

The homicides unfolded against a backdrop of extraordinary understaffing at Hancock. According to the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution, the prison had a 73.5% correctional officer vacancy rate as of October 2024 — only 49 officers for more than 1,100 prisoners — documented among a group of 20 GDC facilities where consultants said vacancies had reached “emergency levels.” A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report described a statewide “culture of indifference” that condoned violence, sexual assaults, and gang‑run prisons. Within this environment, several allegations surfaced concerning deaths that occurred on Foston’s watch. A lawsuit alleged that McKee, who identified as LGBTQ, was placed in a dorm with known gang members hostile to LGBTQ people and that staff ignored his repeated requests to be moved the day before he was attacked; the DOJ investigation found he jumped through stair railings to escape, but gang members continued to stab him. Another claim, filed against the state, asserted that Melgar‑Saldivar was not provided appropriate medical care after his attack. Earlier, in March 2019 — Foston’s first quarter as Deputy Warden — a counselor advised that inmate Amanuel Geberyesus should be held in a special cell after he expressed suicidal thoughts, but prison officials allegedly placed him in a regular cell, where he hanged himself. The body of a deceased person was found in a cell of the “hole” (G1) in the case of Jaylin Bell (2026), and a Telegram relay reported that GF gang members attacked Crips inmates in the H1 dormitory while they slept.

While Foston served as Deputy Warden, the state paid a $424,710 settlement for McKee’s death, and a federal lawsuit, Spradlin v. Toby, was filed in 2023 and remains pending. A Hancock County jury convicted inmate Cleveland Gary for McKee’s murder, and murder warrants were issued for the cellmate of Roland Phillips. A federal indictment in January 2025 charged dozens of people with running a drug‑trafficking ring partly from Hancock. During the same month, a brawl at the prison injured at least two inmates, and in January 2026 a separate fight saw five inmates stabbed, two airlifted to hospitals.

Litigation

• Spradlin v. Toby, No. 5:23-cv-00328 (U.S. Dist. Ct., Middle District of Georgia, filed Aug. 29, 2023). Status: pending. No disposition entered.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — multiple homicide investigations, staffing reports (73.5% vacancy rate), lawsuit allegations, and DOJ investigation summaries.
• 13WMAZ, 41NBC, FOX 5, WGXA, Union‑Recorder — reporting on individual deaths (Weems, July, Bell, Wood, Walthour, and others).
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 statewide investigation into violence and sexual assaults in Georgia prisons (culture‑of‑indifference finding).
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — $424,710 settlement for Charles McKee (2022 incident).
• GPS‑curated death records, intel reports, and facility‑event logs — underlying structured data on mortality dates, causes, and incidents at Hancock State Prison.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jul 19, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.