Hammock, Alisa M

Tenure Summary

Alisa M. Hammock entered Georgia Department of Corrections leadership as a Correction Administration staff member in 2015 before moving into the deputy warden role at Hays State Prison in 2016. GPS records show she remained a Deputy Warden at Hays continuously from January 2016 through at least the end of 2025, a decade-long posting at one of the state’s most troubled maximum-security facilities. During those ten years, 36 deaths were attributed to the facility on her watch — the entirety of the 36 deaths GPS connects to her career leadership tenure. Two federal lawsuits naming Hammock as a defendant are pending in the Northern District of Georgia, filed in 2024 and 2026.

What happened on their watch

Hammock served as Deputy Warden at Hays State Prison from 2016 onward, a period in which the facility recorded 36 deaths. GPS data, assembled from medical examiner files, official GDC mortality reports, and news investigations, reveals a persistent pattern of inmate-on-inmate homicides alongside natural deaths and cases where cause and manner remain pending.

Among the deaths were multiple stabbing homicides: Anthony Lamarr McGhee, 34, died in March 2020 of “complications of blunt force head trauma and sharp force trauma,” according to the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution; Jorge Renberto Ventura, 35, died of stab wounds to the neck, torso, and arms in June 2021; Quintez Deshon Smith, 25, died of multiple sharp force injuries in August 2022; Talore Stihles Blackford, 31, died of multiple stab wounds to the neck in October 2023; Jeremy Edward Price, 36, died of stab wounds to the neck and chest in March 2024; Freddie Lee Talley III, 31, was stabbed to death in May 2024 — officers recovered seven weapons ranging from 9 to 22 inches, per an AJC investigation; and Lawrence L. Williams, 30, was stabbed numerous times on October 24, 2024, according to inmate reports and the GDC mortality report.

Other homicides documented during Hammock’s tenure include James Cannon, 48, found with signs of strangulation in October 2025 — the Chattooga County coroner recorded the manner as homicide and noted the warden reported the cellmate confessed to the killing — and Melvin Gay Johnson, 35, who was “stabbed in the head by an inmate” in January 2026 and declared brain dead, per the coroner’s file and Telegram relay accounts. An individual identified only as “KG” was killed on April 1, 2026, during an official inspection, with reports of two additional victims with neck wounds, per AI-detected Telegram messages. The facility also saw natural deaths such as Corey Anwar Dubose, 47, who died of a heart attack in March 2026, and Raymont Savion Farley, 36, who died of epilepsy in June 2025; in Farley’s case, the coroner found two packets of daily medications on the cell floor, noting possible undelivered or untaken doses for a known seizure patient.

The deputy warden’s tenure coincided with broader facility dysfunction. In 2019, a GBI investigation uncovered that Hays Lieutenant Lakeshia Thomas was arranging to smuggle marijuana for a Gangster Disciples member; she pleaded guilty in 2022. The AJC reported in 2026 that a former Hays guard was sentenced for smuggling methamphetamine and other contraband for over a month. State officials responded to the violence by announcing a $600 million prison spending surge in early 2025, including a $24 million “hardened” 126-bed unit at Hays — the first of four such modules statewide, with construction beginning during Hammock’s tenure. The facility also drew criticism in an AJC article alleging GDC blocks families’ access to manner-of-death information as homicides spiked.

Litigation

• Daker v. Jones — U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, filed July 15, 2024 (4:24-cv-00173). Status: pending.
• Mckenzie v. Oliver — U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, filed April 28, 2026 (4:26-cv-00108). Status: pending.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports during Hammock’s Hays tenure, including those of Anthony McGhee, Jorge Ventura, Quintez Smith, Talore Blackford, Jeremy Price, Freddie Talley, and Lawrence Williams
• Chattooga County Coroner death-investigation files (obtained by GPS via Open Records) — cause/manner determinations and investigative details for Corey Dubose, Melvin Johnson, James Cannon, Raymont Farley, and others
• UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset (GDC records obtained via open records request) — GDC’s own cause-of-death coding for deaths prior to 2021, including Homer Brown, Jonathan Bailey, and others
• GDC official mortality report — date-of-death verifications for Thomas Johnson and Lawrence Williams (ORR R018717-012425)
• Coosa Valley News — initial report of foul play suspected in James Cannon’s death
• Telegram relay channels — inmate reports of homicides at Hays, including the April 2026 incident involving “KG”
• CourtListener / PACER — case dockets for Daker v. Jones and Mckenzie v. Oliver

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 9, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.