Gillis, Shawn

Tenure Summary

Shawn Gillis became warden of Wheeler Correctional Facility on January 1, 2024, according to GPS records. He continues in that role as of the latest available information. During his tenure as warden, 14 people died in custody at Wheeler — the total number GPS attributes to his facility leadership. The deaths include multiple homicides as well as allegations of excessive force and grossly inadequate medical care. No lawsuits naming Gillis as a defendant have been identified in the records.

What happened on their watch

Gillis’s tenure at Wheeler began with the death of Tony Lamar Pruitt, 60, on January 4, 2024, just days after he took command. Over the following two‑and‑a‑half years, another seven men died with the death‑cause category “6” recorded in GPS logs (a category that most often indicates natural causes or an undetermined manner): Antonio Perez Johnson, 45 (March 30, 2024); Ronnie Joseph Cranford, 34 (June 2, 2024); Stoney Joe Allen, 61 (June 21, 2024); David R. Folmar, 70 (July 15, 2024); Russell Anthony Waters, 55 (July 29, 2024); Carlos White, 41 (Dec. 24, 2024); and Robert Lee Hodges, 56 (June 26, 2025). The precise causes of these deaths are not detailed in the available records.

Three deaths during Gillis’s wardship involved violence or allegations of violence. On March 3, 2025, Saquan Dewest Anderson, 23, was stabbed to death; GPS research, citing The Advance News and 13WMAZ, reports that five people were subsequently indicted for murder. On June 10, 2025, Baldemar Jaramillo, 31, died; GPS records note the cause as “Homocide” — a transcription error, later re‑classified from an official GDC record to a prisoner report — but the entry’s context indicates a violent death. On November 2, 2025, Dustin James Parham, 35, died; a user report submitted to GPS alleges that Parham was handcuffed when officers used excessive force.

A death allegedly tied to medical neglect also occurred. Jeffrey Scott Lay, 63, died on July 25, 2025, of internal bleeding. A witness account provided to GPS states that Lay complained of intense pain for weeks, but medical staff “kept giving him tums and sending him back to the dorm” and that by the time a wheelchair was brought, he collapsed and died. Two additional deaths were recorded later: Demetrice Labron Joshen, 28, on November 21, 2025, and Damon Luke Crowe, 40, on April 26, 2026, both listed with cause category 6.

While Gillis was warden, Wheeler Correctional Facility also experienced significant illegal activity facilitated by contraband cellphones. In September 2024, inmate Jose Calderon was sentenced to 262 months for brokering meth distribution from the prison using a contraband phone. In 2026, inmate Dequatte Tucker was sentenced to 188 months for directing a drug trafficking conspiracy from inside Georgia prisons, and more than 30 co‑defendants were convicted, according to The Georgia Virtue. In April 2026, a shakedown recovered a cellphone from inmate Marcus Allen Daniels; an arrest warrant was issued in May 2026 after Daniels allegedly ran a $13,000 bitcoin scam targeting a Lindale woman while impersonating a sheriff’s employee, KLTV.com reported. GPS intelligence reports also document a stabbing in a dorm in April 2026 and a “blood‑on‑blood” violence alert earlier that March.

Litigation

No litigation naming Shawn Gillis as a defendant is recorded.

Sources

• GPS records — death logs and facility assignments
• The Advance News and 13WMAZ — coverage of the indictment in the stabbing death of Saquan Anderson (cited in GPS research notes)
• User reports submitted to GPS — accounts of Dustin Parham’s and Jeffrey Lay’s deaths
• KLTV.com — report on the bitcoin scam by Marcus Allen Daniels
• The Georgia Virtue — report on Dequatte Tucker’s drug trafficking sentencing

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jul 26, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.