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Gardner, Rodney
Status: active
Profile written July 26, 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
Rodney Gardner’s career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in 2015 as a correctional officer, progressing through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant, and unit manager before his appointment as Deputy Warden at Baldwin State Prison in 2024. GPS records show that during his leadership tenure at that facility, 28 deaths were attributed to the prison. This period, which extends through the available records into 2025, was marked by multiple inmate-on-inmate homicides, deaths of individuals in protective custody, and a high-profile allegation that an officer stabbed an incarcerated man while a lieutenant failed to intervene. Gardner’s time at Baldwin unfolded against the backdrop of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into systemic violence and understaffing across Georgia’s prisons, and the facility had already seen a series of staff arrests and federal indictments related to contraband and gang activity.What happened on their watch
As Deputy Warden at Baldwin State Prison starting in 2024, Gardner held the facility’s second-highest leadership post while 28 men died in custody, according to GPS records. The dead ranged in age from 23 to 87. Several deaths were attributed to homicide. Among them, Vincent Reshad Dyer, 50, died of sharp-force chest trauma on August 21, 2024, in an incident that records associate with a fight and contraband. Henry Finley was killed by multiple puncture wounds in late January 2025, per a GDC-released mortality report, and Ricky Carroll Mathis died in April 2026 under circumstances still under investigation by the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards. Other deaths were recorded as natural or medical, though some arrived with notes supplied by prisoners or their families. Almir Harris, 23, died on December 31, 2024, of diabetic ketoacidosis; subsequent intel reports describe the death as occurring “after being denied essential medical care.” Isaac Evan Robinson, 41, died in January 2026 in a protective-custody unit where, according to a social-media account, inmates who fear for their lives are routinely handcuffed and dragged back to housing by officers while wardens watch.Allegations of staff misconduct swirled around the prison during Gardner’s deputy warden tenure. News reports detail how former Lieutenant Tracey Wise smuggled K-2-laced papers into Baldwin for a Bloods gang member, receiving $2,500 per delivery before pleading guilty. A February 2025 lawsuit filed by Akeim Burgest alleges that an officer threw a water bottle at him, then returned with a shank and stabbed him while a lieutenant stood by. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution chronicled broader systemic failures: advocates protested understaffing and medical neglect; at least 360 prison employees had been arrested for smuggling contraband statewide since 2018; and a federal indictment targeted the Sex Money Murder gang’s operations inside Baldwin, including coordinated murders and drug trafficking. Two state liability settlements — $52,286 to Chanlez Driskell for a 2016 incident and $5,000 to Johnnie D. Jackson for a 2022 incident — were paid out for Baldwin State Prison claims recorded in the GA Department of Administrative Services settlement ledger.
Sources
- GPS structured personnel, death, and intel records
- 13WMAZ — reporting on Akeim Burgest lawsuit alleging officer shanking and lieutenant’s failure to intervene
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigations covering prison homicides, staff contraband arrests, understaffing, medical neglect, and the federal Sex Money Murder indictment
- GDC January 2025 mortality data (official release) — causes of death for Henry Finley, Walter Brown, and others
- GA Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — payouts for Chanlez Driskell and Johnnie D. Jackson
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2018-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL OFFICER 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER(WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:19-cv-00002 | GAMD | 2019-01-02 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
28 people died at facilities under Gardner, Rodney's leadership.
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