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Gardner, Rodney
Status: active
Profile written August 30, 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 rose through the Georgia Department of Corrections staff ranks as a correctional officer (2015–2016), sergeant (2017), lieutenant (2018–2020), and correctional unit manager (2021–2023) before his first facility-leader posting, deputy warden at Baldwin State Prison, effective Nov. 22, 2023. Salary records list him in that deputy warden role for 2024 and 2025; a later position as regional operations coordinator at Riverbend Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility begins Sept. 1, 2026.
GPS records attribute 18 deaths to Baldwin State Prison during Gardner’s deputy warden tenure, the only facility with deaths attributed to his leadership postings in the file. Where ages are recorded, the decedents range from 23 to 87. No lawsuit in the provided records names Gardner as a defendant.
What happened on their watch
At Baldwin State Prison, Gardner’s deputy warden tenure began Nov. 22, 2023. GPS records attribute 18 deaths to the facility during that posting, with the sampled death records running from Clint Donovan Shelley on Jan. 17, 2024 to Jack Eubanks on Oct. 24, 2025. Sixteen of the 18 records carry cause category 6 in GPS coding. Two carry category 3 with homicide-specific documentation: Henry Finley’s Jan. 19, 2025 record lists “Homicide due to Multiple Puncture Wounds” in a GDC-released January 2025 mortality report, and Vincent Reshad Dyer’s Aug. 21, 2024 record was corrected from Unknown/Pending to Homicide following the May 2026 malice-murder conviction of Traquan Bangs. A separate Jan. 22, 2025 record for Walter Brown lists “Metastatic Adenocarcinoma” in the same GDC mortality release.
The most heavily documented death on Gardner’s watch is Dyer’s. According to 13WMAZ, a federal lawsuit filed April 13, 2026 by Gary Moore in the Middle District of Georgia accuses four Baldwin State Prison correctional officers — Lt. Sherri V. Waller, Angela Jackson, Matthew Brooks, and Daphne Hillman — of failing to protect Dyer. 13WMAZ reported claims that Dyer had reported threats and asked to be moved, an officer allowed inmates into his dormitory, officers did not respond during or after the attack, and logbook entries failed to accurately document the attack. GPS litigation notes state that discovery closes Jan. 12, 2027.
13WMAZ also reported a separate allegation that an officer threw a water bottle at inmate Akeim Burgest and later stabbed him with a shank while a lieutenant watched; Burgest filed a lawsuit in 2026, and a federal judge ordered preservation of records and camera footage on April 21, 2026. A Jan. 21, 2025 suit by the mother of Joshua Emanuel Williams alleges he was negligently placed in a cell with an inmate who had previously stabbed others; Williams died in 2020, before Gardner’s deputy warden appointment. Broader Baldwin intelligence entries predating Gardner’s tenure include AJC-reported homicides of Jamari McClinton in 2021 and a 2023 federal Sex Money Murder indictment, along with a DOJ investigation of Georgia prison violence announced in 2021.
Litigation
No GPS lawsuit record names Gardner as a defendant. Facility-specific suits in the intelligence file include:
- Moore v. Waller, 5:26-cv-00135 (M.D. Ga., filed April 13, 2026) — Gary Moore alleges four Baldwin State Prison officers failed to protect Vincent Dyer. No disposition is noted; discovery closes Jan. 12, 2027.
- Burgest v. GDC staffers — filed in 2026, per GPS records, over an alleged shanking by an officer; a federal judge ordered preservation of records and camera footage on April 21, 2026.
- Williams family suit — filed Jan. 21, 2025 by the mother of Joshua Emanuel Williams, alleging negligent cell placement in his 2020 death.
Sources
- GPS records — personnel and salary positions, death attributions, lawsuit and intelligence event logs.
- GDC-released January 2025 mortality data PDF — causes for Henry Finley and Walter Brown.
- 13WMAZ — reporting on the Vincent Dyer stabbing lawsuit and Akeim Burgest shanking lawsuit.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — prison homicide list, federal Sex Money Murder indictment, contraband smuggling, and DOJ investigation coverage referenced in the intelligence file.
- Middle District of Georgia court records — Moore v. Waller, 5:26-cv-00135.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Regional Operations Coordinator | RIVERBEND CORRECTIONAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITY | 2026-09-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| 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
18 people died at facilities under Gardner, Rodney's leadership.
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