Hermann, Shelley Elizabeth

Tenure Summary

Shelley Elizabeth Hermann began her Georgia Department of Corrections career as a correctional officer at Pulaski State Prison in 2010, then moved through Dodge State Prison staff roles in maintenance, financial operations, GCI plant management, and ACA compliance before returning to Pulaski as Deputy Warden on Jan. 1, 2025. She became Deputy Warden of Administration on April 16, 2025. GPS records attribute nine deaths to Hermann’s Pulaski deputy-warden tenure; no deaths are attributed to her earlier staff or financial roles. The structured record lists no lawsuits naming Hermann as defendant. Two July 2026 deaths — Monika Yvette Bradley and Kristi Ray Perkins — drew investigations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the GDC Office of Professional Standards, with causes undetermined or pending in GPS records.

What happened on their watch

Pulaski State Prison — Deputy Warden / Deputy Warden of Administration (Jan. 2025–present)

The nine deaths recorded during Hermann’s Pulaski tenure span March 2025 to July 2026. According to Pulaski County Coroner Fred J. Clark III records, Stephanie Sabrina Gary, 55, died March 5, 2025 of natural causes (cancer); Esmeralda Carillo Hernandez, 50, died May 22, 2025 of natural causes (cancer); and Candace Lajon Morgan, 41, died June 11, 2025 of natural causes (cancer). Ronika Lashawn Carswell, 50, died Dec. 12, 2025; the coroner did not state a cause and sent the body to the GBI Crime Lab, per GPS records, leaving the cause unknown/pending.

Denecia Nichelle Randall, 28, died March 30, 2026; a GBI Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy certified the cause as hanging and the manner as suicide. Karen Michelle Lindsey, 59, died May 24, 2026, and Tulia Eustache, 66, died June 3, 2026; both remain unknown/pending in GPS records. Monika Yvette Bradley, 43, died July 5, 2026; GPS records list her cause as unknown/pending. The GDC Office of Professional Standards opened a standard investigation, and the GBI began investigating to determine her cause of death. A separate family report received by GPS described a possible heat exhaustion and dehydration death around July 6, but the date discrepancy with Bradley’s record remains unresolved. Kristi Ray Perkins, 59, died July 12, 2026; state officials reported no signs of an altercation or foul play, while a source report in GPS records alleges untreated diabetes, difficulty standing, and a fall reflected “systematic neglect.” The GBI is investigating her cause of death.

Broader records from the facility overlap this period. During Hermann’s Pulaski tenure, GPS records contain reports alleging retaliation, intimidation, unsafe conditions, extended lockdowns, and a non-functional grievance process under Warden Wendy Jackson. The U.S. Department of Justice had documented constitutional violations at Pulaski as part of its Georgia prisons investigation, with findings dated 2022–2023, before Hermann became deputy warden. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting cited in GPS records also alleges inadequate medical care at Pulaski in earlier years, including Mollianne Fischer being left in a vegetative state in 2014 and Bonnie Rocheleau’s 2015 pneumonia death; those events predate Hermann’s deputy-warden tenure.

Sources

• GPS records — personnel positions, deaths, investigations, and facility incident reports
• Pulaski County Coroner Fred J. Clark III death investigation reports
• GBI Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy records
• GBI and GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation records
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Pulaski State Prison medical care and misconduct coverage
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger via open records, as compiled in GPS records

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.