Harris, Latasha M

Tenure Summary

Latasha M. Harris joined the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a correctional officer and rose steadily through the ranks — lieutenant (2016–2017), unit manager (2018–2024) — before being appointed Deputy Warden at Augusta State Medical Prison (ASMP) beginning January 2025. GPS records show 57 deaths attributed to ASMP during Harris's tenure as Deputy Warden, spanning January 2025 through April 2026. The overwhelming majority carry cause category 6 (cause unspecified in GPS records); the remainder include one natural-causes death, one suicide, and two homicides. ASMP is Georgia's primary medical prison and has accumulated a documented history of violent deaths, a $5 million state settlement, a DOJ investigation, and federal contempt findings — all predating or overlapping Harris's current posting.

What Happened on Their Watch

Deputy Warden — Augusta State Medical Prison (January 2025–present)

GPS records attribute 57 deaths at ASMP during Harris's tenure as Deputy Warden. The deaths span January 9, 2025 through April 9, 2026. Cause category 6 — unspecified in GPS records — accounts for the large majority. Confirmed exceptions include: Marty Reeves (January 13, 2025), whose death record lists cardiopulmonary arrest, COPD, and metastatic pancreatic cancer; Stephen Prochaska (January 21, 2025), recorded as suicide by hanging; Kendius Hill (January 9, 2025), recorded as homicide by anoxic brain injury and septic shock; and Sidney Dorsey (March 2, 2026), an 86-year-old reported by a user as dying of natural causes. Jerry Wayne Merritt (January 20, 2026, age 59) is recorded as a homicide; per a GPS user report, John Jaquis Trimer is accused of stabbing Merritt with a sharpened object in the chest and shoulder. A separate GPS user report on DeQuan Osborne (February 17, 2026, age 33) alleges the prison did not inform his family until after he was removed from life support. Several of the deceased were elderly — ages 71, 73, 74, 76, 81, 83, 84, and 86 — consistent with ASMP's medical-prison population.

Intel reports filed during Harris's tenure allege ongoing violence at ASMP: according to GPS incident reports, an incarcerated person was stabbed in the eye in D building (April 2026); four incarcerated individuals arrived at ASMP with wired-shut jaws (April 2026); and a person was severely beaten with injuries described as serious (April 2026). A self-identified family member submitted a website report in March 2026 describing conditions at the facility.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported allegations tied to ASMP that predate Harris's Deputy Warden appointment but reflect the facility's documented pattern: guards allegedly moved a prisoner with a violent strangulation history into Eddie Gosier's cell, leading to Gosier's murder (May 2020); Thomas Henry Giles was allegedly left in a smoke-filled cell for hours, resulting in his death — ruled a homicide by the GBI — and a $5 million state settlement with his family; Jimmy Lucero was allegedly placed in solitary confinement without required medical checks and fell into a catatonic state; and Rodarick Lee Hayes was allegedly attacked on multiple occasions before his death, with a correctional officer charged with aiding in the fatal stabbing (May 2024), per the AJC. A 2024 DOJ report described, per the AJC, "horrific violence, sexual assaults, and gang-run prisons within the GDC enabled by a culture of indifference." A federal judge separately found the GDC in contempt for disregarding mandates to improve conditions in a high-security prison wing near Jackson, per the AJC. In February 2026 — during Harris's tenure — Judge Self summoned GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver to testify and found it "shocking" and "unbelievable" that GDC had ignored an 11th Circuit order on inmate email contacts, per the AJC.

Litigation

• In Re Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:20-md-02974 (N.D. Ga., filed December 16, 2020) — Harris is listed as a defendant; case remains pending as of GPS records. No outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigative reporting on ASMP homicides, GDC systemic failures, and federal contempt proceedings (multiple reports, 2026)
• GPS incident reports (GPS-DEATH-2026-26E55; GPS-DEATH-2026-E04D8; GPS-DEATH-2026-DA0D1; submission IDs 75, 86, 142, 146, 153, 170)
• GPS deaths-during-tenure records — 57 deaths at Augusta State Medical Prison, January 2025–April 2026
• GPS intel events — ASMP facility record, including documented deaths 2020–2024 and Benning v. Oliver litigation timeline
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 report on GDC violence and gang-run prisons (referenced via AJC)
• CourtListener — In Re Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:20-md-02974

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 10, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.