Jackson, Kendric

Tenure Summary

Kendric Jackson entered the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a correctional officer at Smith State Prison, rising through sergeant (2017), lieutenant (2018 and 2020, with a 2019 lieutenant posting at Smith Transitional Center), and unit manager (2021) — all non-leadership tiers per GPS records. He crossed into facility leadership as Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison in 2022, then Deputy Warden at Telfair State Prison in 2023, a 2024 deputy warden assignment with no facility listed, and Warden at Calhoun State Prison from December 16, 2024 through May 31, 2026. Effective June 1, 2026, he was promoted to Warden at Valdosta State Prison, where GPS records say he was responsible for staff and approximately 1,151 male offenders.

GPS attributes 23 deaths to his leadership-tier tenures: 8 at Telfair State Prison, 8 at Calhoun State Prison, 4 at Valdosta State Prison, and 3 at Dodge State Prison. One of those deaths — Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano at Telfair — became a wrongful-death settlement with the State of Georgia, reported by 13WMAZ at $3.2 million.

What happened on their watch

Dodge State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022): 3 deaths. Hezekiah Cuyler, 21, was injured at Dodge on August 31, 2022 and died September 14; per the coroner record obtained through a GPS open-records request, the coroner logged a "fight w/ another" and ruled the manner homicide (the AJC investigation lists blunt force trauma to the head). Douglas Anthony Forts, 57, was found in his cell on June 2, 2022; the AJC lists acute traumatic amputation of a finger during a fight, while the coroner's manner field was left blank. Arnold Merle McDonald, 63, died in-patient on December 22, 2022 after a December 17 fall and subdural hematoma; the coroner left the manner blank.

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden (2023): 8 deaths. Two were homicides per the AJC: Deahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, died April 18, 2023 of exsanguination from a stab wound to the neck — a claim filed against the state alleged he was stabbed by several prisoners when no staff were present in the dorm and that he had renounced gang affiliation, making him a prior target of attacks; and Kwesi Jamal Stultz, 24, died December 22, 2023 of multiple blunt-force injuries to the head, ruled homicide on the Telfair County coroner certificate. Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, died July 20, 2023 after roughly five hours in an outdoor recreation cage as the heat index reached about 105°F; the family's lawsuit alleged an officer responded "if he dies, he dies," GDC reported the death as natural causes, and the family later reached the $3.2 million settlement with the State. Other deaths that year: Clifford Bagley, 31 (overdose, accidental); Larry Adams, 53 (fall from height, accidental — the coroner certificate flagged a name discrepancy); Renel Janvier Whitfield, 31 (anoxic brain injury, natural); Bobby Murray, 51 (cause not determined in GPS records). The AJC reported in May 2026 that Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce, leaving 36 correctional officers for 1,400 prisoners.

Deputy Warden (2024, facility not listed): GPS records show no deaths attributed to this posting.

Calhoun State Prison — Warden (Dec. 16, 2024 – May 31, 2026): 8 deaths. Theodore Roundtree died January 19, 2025; a Calhoun County coroner certificate obtained via GPS open-records request lists sharp force abdominal trauma and manner homicide. Matthew Len Nutt, 37, died December 21, 2025 — a user report described it as a homicide in the hole, and the coroner certificate lists blunt force trauma, manner homicide. Thomas Haugabook, 67 (intracranial hemorrhage, natural), and Jimmy McMullen, 67 (pancreatic cancer, natural, per death certificate) were ruled natural. Freddie Lee Patterson, 51; Gary Bernard Duncan, 67; and Tyler Jackson, 30 — cause not determined in GPS records. Broader findings overlapping this tenure: the AJC reported a DOJ allegation that staff failed to follow procedures when moving DaQuavious Cachone Lackey's assailant between segregation and general population, leading to Lackey being housed with and killed by his cellmate; and federal reporting covering 2018–2023 described 142 deaths in GDC prisons, a state prison homicide rate nearly triple the national average, and officer vacancy rates above 50% since mid-2021. GPS event records also document the systematic transfer of 87 lifers out of Calhoun to close-security facilities between February and April 2026, naming Jackson, and the January 2026 convictions of two Calhoun inmates for running a $464,920 wire-fraud and extortion operation on contraband cell phones.

Valdosta State Prison — Warden (from June 1, 2026): 4 deaths. Antavious Bailey, 40, died June 21, 2026 and Steven Bryant, 49, died June 23, 2026; both were later confirmed on GDC's June 2026 monthly mortality report, with GDC's Office of Professional Standards investigating as standard procedure and official causes undetermined pending GBI crime lab autopsies. Ramon Daniel Ortiz died July 4, 2026, cause unknown; the GPS record was corrected August 8, 2026 after the original row carried the GDC number of a living, different person. A reported August 13, 2026 death of "James Loreno" remains an unverified user report per GPS records, with a probable identification as a Valdosta lifer and no official mortality confirmation. Facility intel during this period includes the May 2026 indictment of inmate Luis Ramirez and six others on methamphetamine and fentanyl conspiracy charges (the task force investigation began July 2025), Operation Skyhawk's arrest of seven officers over a contraband scheme run by a Valdosta prisoner, a GDC statement that a viral flooded-cell video was staged, and a July 2026 public Facebook comment from a former supervisor corroborating GPS's "Two Commanders" reporting on alleged staffing-report falsification pressure at Valdosta.

Litigation

• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (N.D. Ga.), filed June 6, 2025, terminated March 30, 2026; no outcome amount recorded. Filed while Jackson held the Calhoun warden post.
• Daker v. Ward, No. 7:20-cv-00113 (M.D. Ga.), filed June 11, 2020, terminated November 3, 2021; no outcome amount recorded.

The input does not describe the claims in either suit, and neither lists a damages figure.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicides list (Telfair, Dodge, Calhoun, Valdosta deaths)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — drug-trafficking investigations, Operation Skyhawk, Smith/Telfair staffing columns
• 13WMAZ — Ramirez Bibiano $3.2 million settlement with the State of Georgia
• WRDW — Valdosta flooded-cell video / GDC response
• Yahoo.com — Valdosta inmate drug-trafficking indictments
• GPS open-records coroner certificates — Calhoun County (Darien D. Brown) and Telfair County, received July 2, 2026
• GDC June 2026 monthly mortality report; GDC January 2025 mortality data PDF
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation into GDC; federal report covering 2018–2023
• CourtListener dockets — Daker v. Oliver, Daker v. Ward
• GPS event records — Calhoun lifer transfers, GPS "Two Commanders" story and public Facebook comment

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.