Harris, Latasha M

Tenure Summary

Latasha M Harris's state payroll record traces a steady climb inside the Georgia Department of Corrections: correctional officer (SP) in 2015, correctional lieutenant in 2016 and 2017, correctional unit manager from 2018 through 2024, then Deputy Warden at Augusta State Medical Prison for 2025, and — from July 16, 2026 — Deputy Warden of Security at the same prison, a post the records show with no end date.

Every death attributed to her leadership tenures occurred at Augusta State Medical Prison: 55 in total, per GPS's death registry. The records reviewed contain no lawsuit naming her as a defendant and no news report naming her directly.

What happened on their watch

Before her first facility-leadership post, Harris served as a corrections officer (SP) in 2015, as a correctional lieutenant in 2016 and 2017, and as a correctional unit manager from 2018 through 2024; the records carry no facility assignment for those years.

Deputy Warden, Augusta State Medical Prison (2025)

The registry attributes deaths at the prison to this posting starting in January 2025 and continuing to the end of the year. Among them, the registry lists the following:

• Ronnie Williams, 65, died December 31, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Alfonzo Foster, 74, died December 30, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Gary Thomas Shaughnessy, 71, died December 21, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Eugene Cornelius Edmond, 65, died December 1, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Kenneth Craig Mccowan, 69, died November 24, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Kimmeth Devon Harden, 55, died November 20, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Jeffery Jackson, 63, died October 29, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Lloyd Lewis, 62, died October 19, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Deonta Smith, 40, died October 10, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Johnnie Wildermuth, 44, died October 9, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Randy Clay, 63, died October 1, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Trammell Lyonda Williams, 47, died September 28, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Eric Deal, 58, died September 14, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Treyvance Elliott Currie, 55, died August 31, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Michael Juan Campbell, 56, died August 19, 2025, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.

Reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dated January 21, 2025 — while Harris held the Deputy Warden title — carries several accounts tied to the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation of Georgia prisons: that the DOJ found Rodarick Lee Hayes had been attacked on multiple occasions before his death at Augusta State Medical Prison, suggesting a failure to protect him; that a correctional officer was accused of aiding in the attack that led to Hayes's stabbing death; that Thomas Henry Giles was left for hours in his smoke-filled cell while officers evacuated nearby inmates and died of smoke inhalation, a death the GBI ruled a homicide; that guards moved a prisoner with a violent history of strangulation into Eddie Gosier's cell, leading to Gosier's murder hours later; and that Jimmy Lucero was held in solitary confinement without required medical checks, fell into a catatonic state and starved. These are allegations reported by the AJC and findings attributed to the DOJ investigation, not conclusions of this record.

Deputy Warden of Security, Augusta State Medical Prison (from July 16, 2026)

• Phillip Curtis Walker, 62, died July 16, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Donald Hugh Young, 49, died August 5, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Anretoes Kenwood Wilkins, 50, died August 7, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• John Henry Tuff, 75, died August 8, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Jimmie Lee Dennis, 64, died August 17, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Dwight Bernard Freeman, 69, died August 28, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Demilo Ponchorello Johnson, 48, died September 10, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Alphonso Dade, 70, died September 14, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Donnie Gene Poland, 60, died September 15, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Richard Atwood, 68, died September 18, 2026, at Augusta State Medical Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.

Two reports submitted to Georgia Prisoners' Speak are dated inside this posting. A report dated October 1, 2026 states that a person died at the prison in 2026 after reportedly never being moved from the dorm to medical care, with the cause described as likely natural but unconfirmed. A report dated October 16, 2026 describes an incarcerated person assaulting another over stolen property, framed as retaliation. The same period's records also note the prison's Pups in the Pen program, which surpassed 120 dog adoptions over a little more than two years, as reported August 28, 2026.

Sources

• GPS death registry — 55 deaths attributed to Harris's leadership tenures, all at Augusta State Medical Prison; individual decedents, dates, ages and cause listings above.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "GA prison homicides: a list of those killed in Georgia's prison system" and "Prison system failures cost Georgia taxpayers millions," both carrying January 21, 2025 accounts of the Hayes, Giles, Gosier and Lucero deaths.
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Georgia prisons — finding, as reported by the AJC, that Rodarick Lee Hayes had been attacked multiple times before his death.
• Reports submitted to Georgia Prisoners' Speak case intake — October 1, 2026 and October 16, 2026, Augusta State Medical Prison.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Nov 1, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.