Jackson, Kendric

Tenure Summary

Kendric Jackson entered the Georgia Department of Corrections at Smith State Prison as a correctional officer in 2015 and rose through the ranks there — correctional officer (2016), sergeant (2017), lieutenant (2018), lieutenant at Smith Transitional Center (2019), lieutenant at Smith State Prison again (2020), and correctional unit manager (2021). He moved into facility leadership as Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison (2022), then Deputy Warden at Telfair State Prison (2023), a one-day Deputy Warden record at Dodge dated Nov. 22, 2023, and a Deputy Warden posting with no facility listed (Jan. 1–Dec. 15, 2024). He became Warden at Calhoun State Prison on Dec. 16, 2024, held that post until May 31, 2026, and became Warden at Valdosta State Prison on June 1, 2026; the record also carries a "Warden 3" entry at Valdosta dated Aug. 27, 2026, and lists his status as active.

GPS attributes 23 deaths to his leadership tenures — 8 at Telfair State Prison, 8 at Calhoun State Prison, 4 at Valdosta State Prison, and 3 at Dodge State Prison. He is named as a defendant in two federal dockets. The decedents are named below.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden, Dodge State Prison (2022)

• Douglas Anthony Forts died June 2, 2022, at Dodge State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 57. An event record describes acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a fight.
• Hezekiah Cuyler died Sept. 14, 2022, at Dodge State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 21. An event record describes blunt force trauma to the head.
• Arnold Merle Mcdonald died Dec. 22, 2022, at Dodge State Prison; the registry lists cause as Unknown/Pending, age 63.

A further Deputy Warden record at Dodge is dated Nov. 22, 2023 only. Dodge's attributed total remains three.

Deputy Warden, Telfair State Prison (2023)

• Renel Janvier Whitfield died Jan. 25, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 31.
• Larry Adams died April 3, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Accident, age 53.
• Deahmoz Oshmic Floyd died April 18, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 29. An event record states he died of exsanguination from a stab wound to the side of the neck, and that a claim filed against the state alleged he was stabbed by several prisoners when no prison staff were in the dorm.
• Clifford Lawrence Bagley died May 28, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 31.
• Juan Carlos Ramirez died July 20, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Other, age 27. An event record states he was placed in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot outdoor cage with no shade while the heat index reached about 105°F, left roughly five hours, and reached the hospital with an internal body temperature of 107°F. The GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) records a state liability payout of $3,249,872.60 tied to Telfair State Prison for a 2023 incident linked to this death record.
• Walter Rakim Jordan died Aug. 30, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 53.
• Bobby Murray died Dec. 21, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 51.
• Kwesi Jamal Stultz died Dec. 22, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 24. An event record states he died from multiple injuries to the head.

The settlement ledger also records a $1,750 payout tied to Telfair State Prison (2023 incident) in the matter of Ryan Frank DeMon. In 2023 a Telfair sergeant, Desiree Briley, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a role in a drug trafficking network, having helped a prisoner smuggle methamphetamine into the prison for at least two years, per GPS's event records.

Deputy Warden, facility not listed (Jan. 1–Dec. 15, 2024)

Warden, Calhoun State Prison (Dec. 16, 2024 – May 31, 2026)

• Charles Owens died Jan. 6, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Theodore Roundtree died Jan. 19, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Homicide.
• Gary Bernard Duncan died May 4, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 67.
• Tyler Jackson died June 28, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 30.
• Thomas Haugabook died Sept. 25, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 67.
• Matthew Len Nutt died Dec. 21, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 37.
• Jimmy Mcmullen died Jan. 28, 2026, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 67.
• Freddie Lee Patterson died May 13, 2026, at Calhoun State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 51.

The DOJ investigation reported by WALB on Feb. 13, 2026 — published while Jackson was Warden — found that Georgia's prison system fails to provide incarcerated people the constitutionally required minimum of reasonable physical safety; that EMS responses to GDC prisons are delayed an average of about 30 minutes; that less than 10% of prison fights, less than 23% of inmate-on-inmate assaults, and less than 6% of weapons incidents were forwarded for investigation; and that Georgia deliberately underreports homicides, listing deaths identified internally as homicides as "unknown" in official mortality data. WALB also reported federal investigators documenting that an incarcerated person at Calhoun died of dehydration after staff shut off his water, closed the door flap and did not deliver meals for two days (the underlying incident is dated February 2023, before his tenure), that staff at Calhoun failed to follow classification and housing procedures contributing to a 2022 homicide, and that a grievance alleging extortion and gang violence at Calhoun was rejected as untimely with no follow-up. A federal report covering 2018–2023 found 142 deaths in GDC prisons and a state prison homicide rate nearly triple the national average, with officer vacancy rates above 50% since mid-2021. Separately reported, pre-tenure-in-date incidents include the finding of Kenneth Piper dead at Calhoun (May 2024), the stabbing death of DaQuavious Cachone Lackey, 21, whose alleged assailant the DOJ said staff failed to separate properly (reported by the AJC Jan. 21, 2025), and Willie Andrew Willis Jr., whose family alleges he was thrown from a balcony and waited nearly an hour for an airlift while medical records list sepsis as the cause.

The AJC reported June 19, 2025 that the GDC failed to submit drug evidence for testing in at least 11 dismissed cases involving 15 defendants, including five prison employees, and that the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department failed to do so in 12 cases; officers Corlethia Lattimore (112 grams of methamphetamine) and Imani Ferguson (tobacco) were arrested in February 2020 in the "Hot Pockets" case and charges were dismissed in July 2023, with GDC investigator Ruby Long taking out the warrants but not submitting evidence. Nearly two dozen cases producing 33 arrests between 2018 and 2021 were dismissed by District Attorney Joe Mulholland; a grand jury heard 35 Calhoun-related cases on June 2, 2025, with more than 300 still pending. GPS event records name Jackson in reports of 87 lifers transferred out of Calhoun, 79.3% to Level 5 close-security facilities, including a concentrated wave of 36 in the final week of March 2026. The GDC deployed a Managed Access System across 34 prisons at $50 million, installed at Calhoun in mid-2025; two incarcerated men, Joey Amour Jackson and Lance Riddle, were later convicted of a $464,920 wire-fraud operation run from Calhoun using contraband phones, and Annie Ashley was charged with grand theft in a related scam network. GDC paid Sheriff Josh Hilton and eight deputies nearly $127,000 for off-duty perimeter patrol in the first three months of 2025. Two GPS case submissions dated April 13, 2026 allege a stabbing requiring emergency medical evacuation from the solitary confinement unit and a separate assault with burns requiring transport to an outside facility.

Warden, Valdosta State Prison (from June 1, 2026)

• Antavious Bailey died June 21, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 40.
• Steven Bryant died June 23, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 49.
• Ramon Daniel Ortiz died July 4, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 33.
• James Loreno died Aug. 13, 2026, at Valdosta State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.

The GDC Office of Professional Standards said it was investigating the Bailey and Bryant deaths as standard procedure, with causes undetermined and autopsies to be performed by the GBI crime lab. On July 23, 2026, WRDW reported an inmate claim of poor living conditions after a viral TikTok video showed a flooded cell; the GDC alleged the inmate staged the video after being placed in lockdown for possessing contraband cell phones.

Litigation

• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191, court docketed as GAND, filed June 6, 2025, terminated March 30, 2026. Jackson is listed as a defendant; the case was filed while he was Warden at Calhoun State Prison.
• Daker v. Ward, 7:20-cv-00113, court docketed as GAMD, filed June 11, 2020, terminated Nov. 3, 2021. Jackson is listed as a defendant; the case was filed while he was a correctional lieutenant at Smith State Prison.

Sources

• Georgia Prisoners' Speak death registry and event records — named decedents and facility totals during Jackson's leadership tenures
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Calhoun smuggling-case dismissals (June 19, 2025); prison homicide coverage and the Lackey and dehydration findings (Jan. 21, 2025)
• WALB — DOJ investigation findings and Calhoun allegations (Feb. 13, 2026)
• WRDW — Valdosta flooded-cell video report (July 23, 2026)
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Georgia Department of Corrections, as reported by WALB
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — Telfair State Prison payouts
• Court records via CourtListener — Daker v. Oliver, 1:25-cv-03191 (GAND); Daker v. Ward, 7:20-cv-00113 (GAMD)
• GPS case submissions from Calhoun State Prison (April 13, 2026)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 4, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.