Hermann, Shelley Elizabeth

Tenure Summary

Shelley Elizabeth Hermann entered the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2010 as a correctional officer at Pulaski State Prison, then moved through maintenance, financial, and compliance roles at Dodge State Prison and later GDC administrative posts. According to GPS records, she became Deputy Warden of Administration at Pulaski State Prison on April 16, 2025. Across her facility-leader tenure, GPS attributes eight deaths to Hermann, all at Pulaski State Prison. The provided records list no lawsuits naming Hermann as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Pulaski State Prison — Deputy Warden of Administration (April 16, 2025 onward). The eight attributed deaths carry GPS incident dates from May 22, 2025 to July 12, 2026.

Two deaths were documented by Pulaski County Coroner Fred J. Clark III as natural, caused by cancer: Esmeralda Carillo Hernandez, 50, who died May 22, 2025, and Candace Lajon Morgan, 41, who died June 11, 2025. Ronika Lashawn Carswell, 50, died Dec. 12, 2025; coroner records state no cause of death and note the body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab, while GPS lists the cause as unknown/pending. Denecia Nichelle Randall, 28, died March 30, 2026; a GBI Medical Examiner autopsy certified the cause as hanging and the manner as suicide.

Three additional deaths are listed in GPS records as unknown/pending: Karen Michelle Lindsey, 59 (May 24, 2026), Tulia Eustache, 66 (June 3, 2026), and Monika Yvette Bradley, 43 (July 5, 2026). For Bradley, a family report to GPS described a possible heat exhaustion and dehydration death, but GPS logged the date and identity as unresolved. Kristi Ray Perkins, 59, died July 12, 2026; GPS lists her cause category as natural/medical, while a user report alleged untreated diabetes and a fall and described the death as “systematic neglect.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation opened a cause-of-death investigation into Perkins and Bradley on July 14, 2026, and the GDC Office of Professional Standards opened standard investigations into both deaths.

Contemporaneous GPS event logs from April 2025 and February 2026 carried reports of retaliation, intimidation, extended lockdowns, and unsafe conditions under Warden Wendy Jackson at Pulaski. Earlier Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting, predating Hermann’s deputy warden tenure, alleged that staff at Pulaski failed to notice a stabbing until an outside caller reported it, and that Deputy Warden Alonzo L. McMillian was arrested in May 2024 on charges of sexual contact with a prisoner. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation documented constitutional violations at Pulaski State Prison in 2022–2023, before Hermann’s leadership posting.

Sources

• GPS personnel and mortality records — positions, deaths by facility, and deaths-during-tenure entries.
• Pulaski County Coroner Fred J. Clark III, Coroner’s Death Investigation Reports, Pulaski 2025.
• GBI Medical Examiner report ME-26-40234 — autopsy of Denecia Nichelle Randall.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Prison system failures cost Georgia taxpayers millions” (Fischer and Rocheleau inadequate-care allegations).
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Two high-ranking Georgia prison employees accused in sex cases” (McMillian allegation).
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Georgia expected to fight feds over state’s prison conditions” (Pulaski stabbing and DOJ investigation).
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Georgia prisons — Pulaski State Prison findings, 2022–2023.
• GPS event logs — GBI and GDC Office of Professional Standards investigations into the Perkins and Bradley deaths.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 30, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.