Foulks, Rodney

Tenure Summary

Rodney Foulks began his GDC career in 2015 as a correctional officer at Valdosta State Prison, rising steadily through the ranks — sergeant, lieutenant, unit manager — before reaching the deputy warden level at Smith State Prison, where GPS records show he has held that role since 2024 and continues as of 2025. As of May 2026, he is listed as Special Assistant to the Warden at Valdosta State Prison. GPS records attribute 37 deaths across his unit-supervisor and facility-deputy tenures: 13 at Valdosta State Prison (2019–2022), 18 at Smith State Prison while serving as Correctional Unit Manager (2023), and 6 at Smith State Prison while serving as Deputy Warden (2024–2025). Among those deaths, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation identifies at least 12 as homicides, with causes including stab wounds, blunt force trauma, and asphyxia by neck compression. Two federal civil lawsuits name Foulks as a defendant.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Valdosta State Prison — Correctional Unit Manager (2019–2022)

GPS records show 13 deaths occurred at Valdosta State Prison during Foulks's tenure as unit manager. The AJC's homicide investigation identifies four of these as homicides: Prince Blige (54, stab wound to torso, February 2020), Orvonta Casmir Tillman (36, multiple sharp force penetrating trauma to thorax, June 2020), Bobby Lane Carpenter (31, stab wound to chest, September 2020), and Hakeem Olajuwon Williams (27, stab wound to chest, February 2022). The remaining nine deaths in this period carry cause category 6 in GPS records, with no additional notes provided. Regarding Williams, the AJC alleges an officer placed him in a cell while handcuffed, where a cellmate then attacked him. Separately, the AJC alleges that at least six correctional officers at Valdosta during this general period aided inmate Kydetrius Thomas in smuggling drug-soaked paper, pills, and tobacco — a scheme that culminated in Operation Skyhawk, a two-year investigation announced in March 2024 that resulted in 150 arrests, 1,000 criminal charges, and $7 million in confiscated goods. Seven officers were arrested in connection with that scheme, including one allegedly involved in drone contraband drops. WALB News reports that inmates alleged jailers failed to respond to a stabbing of William Springer for several hours at Valdosta; the family also alleges GDC failed to notify them after the attack. In January 2025, the family of Shane Griffith — beaten and tortured to death by 11 fellow inmates at Valdosta on May 29–30, 2024, after Foulks had moved to Smith — filed a notice of intent to sue the state, alleging staff were absent during the prolonged attack.

Smith State Prison — Correctional Unit Manager (2023)

GPS records show 18 deaths at Smith State Prison during Foulks's year as unit manager. The AJC's homicide investigation identifies eight of these as homicides: Randy Wynn (54, homicide, March 2023); Anthony Joseph Zino III (71, asphyxia by neck compression, April 2023); Calvin Darrell Denson Jr. (31, stab wound to chest, April 2023); Shaquan Jahrel Boykins (31, blunt impact injuries to head, May 2023); Justin Tyler Smith (37, epidural hematoma from blunt force injury, July 2023); Quenton George Mayo (30, stab wounds to neck, August 2023); James Adams Jr. (72, blunt force trauma to head and neck, November 2023); and Donquerius Lamonte Mahone (37, homicide, February 2024 — straddling the unit manager and deputy warden periods). Per GPS records, Zino's body was badly decomposed when discovered; the AJC alleges he had likely been dead for days before staff found him, suggesting a failure to monitor inmates. The AJC further alleges that Desmond Hill called his mother the day before his death to report a cellmate had threatened to kill him, and that prison officials failed to act on that known threat. A correctional officer, Robert Danford Clark, 42, was also stabbed to death at Smith on October 1, 2023, per GPS event records. Also during this period, former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams was arrested and fired in early 2023 on charges including violating Georgia's RICO Act, bribery, making false statements, and violating his oath as a public officer, according to GPS records — allegations tied to inmate Nathan Weekes's contraband scheme. The AJC alleges Weekes also orchestrated three murders from inside the prison using a contraband cell phone. Seven shakedowns at Smith in 2023 yielded 1,509 weapons, 694 cell phones, and multiple kilos of drugs and tobacco, per GPS event records. The AJC reported 2023 set a record for Georgia prison homicides with 37 deaths statewide.

Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2024–2025)

GPS records attribute six deaths to Smith State Prison during Foulks's tenure as Deputy Warden: Gineli Antoine Gray (31, February 2024), Donquerius Lamonte Mahone (37, February 2024, homicide per AJC), Jaydrekus Cartez Hart (34, June 2024), Richard Jermine Williams (43, September 2024), Orlando Jordan (36, September 2024), and Calvin Bernard Craft (34, December 2024). The Hart death on June 16, 2024, was a major incident: GPS event records show Hart used a firearm — allegedly smuggled in by drone — to shoot and kill 24-year-old Aramark food service employee Aureon Shavea Grace in the prison kitchen before dying in what was ruled a murder-suicide. The shooting triggered a system-wide GDC lockdown and prompted Governor Brian Kemp to announce an in-depth assessment of the corrections system by consultants Guidehouse Inc. A former corrections officer alleged to the AJC that Smith's back gate, used for supply deliveries, lacks a metal detector. The AJC alleges Smith was operating with roughly one-third of its correctional officer positions filled — approximately 53 officers at a facility designed for 160 — creating what the publication characterized as dangerous conditions. The Marshall Project reported that understaffing left a single officer responsible for an area housing 600 men, and that a dead body went unnoticed for five days due to staffing failures. A lawsuit filed by Deshonda Hagins in Fulton County State Court in July 2025 alleges prison staff were repeatedly warned of a gun on the premises but failed to act, per GPS event records. A separate lawsuit alleges that four prisoners who attacked Hiwatha Abdulcah Hakeem Jr. had a history of violence and that officials failed to provide timely medical care after the assault, per the AJC. A gang-related altercation at Smith on April 1, 2026 — after Foulks had moved to Valdosta — resulted in two inmates being airlifted to hospitals and triggered another system-wide GDC lockdown.

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Litigation

• Humphrey v. Moody, No. 7:24-cv-00006 (M.D. Ga.), filed January 22, 2024. Status: pending. No outcome amount reported. (CourtListener)
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 6, 2025. Status: terminated March 30, 2026. No outcome amount reported. (CourtListener)

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Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (multiple homicide cause-of-death attributions at Valdosta and Smith State Prisons, 2020–2024); Operation Skyhawk reporting (Valdosta contraband scheme, officer arrests); Smith State Prison conditions reporting (understaffing, contraband, Warden Brian Adams arrest, Nathan Weekes contraband scheme, June 2024 shooting); DA Barksdale public safety warning; AJC opinion pieces on GDC corruption
• The Marshall Project — Understaffing and conditions reporting at Smith State Prison (2024)
• WALB News — Reporting on William Springer stabbing and family notification failure at Valdosta State Prison (2025)
• In These Times — Georgia prison strike reporting (conditions allegations at Smith State Prison)
• The Georgia Virtue — Georgia State Prison conditions reporting (Cassady allegations, Warden James Deal)
• GPS records — Death records, position and salary data, facility assignments, cause-category classifications for all 37 deaths during Foulks's unit-supervisor and facility-deputy tenures
• CourtListener / federal court records — Humphrey v. Moody, No. 7:24-cv-00006 (M.D. Ga.); Daker v. Oliver, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.)
• GPS event records — Smith State Prison shakedown data (2023); June 2024 shooting incident; Operation Skyhawk arrests; Governor Kemp system assessment announcement; April 2026 gang altercation and lockdown; Hagins lawsuit filing; Griffith family notice of intent to sue

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.