Jackson, Tarra L Tomlin

Tenure Summary

Tarra L Tomlin Jackson's career in the Georgia Department of Corrections began in behavioral health, holding counselor and supervisory counselor titles from 2015 through 2017 before serving as a Correctional Unit Manager from 2018 through 2020. In 2021 she moved into facility leadership as Deputy Warden at Washington State Prison, a position she held through 2025. Since July 16, 2026 she has been listed as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at the same prison. Her personnel status is active.

GPS's death registry attributes 30 deaths to her leadership tenure, every one of them at Washington State Prison — the only facility where she has held a leadership post. During her Deputy Warden years she was named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit, Ridley v. Jackson, filed June 24, 2022 and terminated October 13, 2022. The U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 findings that Georgia prison officials were "deliberately indifferent" to unchecked deadly violence, gang-run black markets, drugs and extortion overlap that same posting, as do internal reports dated 2026 describing gang-controlled housing units, a facility-wide lockdown and a January 2026 melee at Washington State Prison.

What happened on their watch

Pre-leadership postings, 2015–2020. Behavioral health counselor roles (2015–2017) and Correctional Unit Manager (2018–2020). No facility is recorded for these postings.

Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2021–2025. GPS's registry attributes the bulk of the 30 deaths at Washington State Prison to this period. The named entries run from Phillip Rutledge in October 2022 to Taylor Allen Howard in December 2025, and the causes span homicide, overdose, natural/medical, accident and use of force. Among the names below, the youngest is Lamontez Winkfield at 22 and the oldest Wayne Krier at 77. Separately, GPS's incident log records that Marquis Reshawn Jefferson died May 12, 2022, from stab wounds to the torso and arm, with an incident report dated May 11, 2022 naming four other incarcerated people, and that Michael Lee Jackson died August 17, 2022, from multiple blunt force injuries, with two other incarcerated people involved.

• Phillip Rutledge died October 6, 2022, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 72.
• Jason Shayne Speed died November 23, 2022, at Washington State Prison; Other, age 45.
• William A Brooks died November 25, 2022, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 67.
• Garrett Lee Bailey died June 12, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Overdose, age 39.
• Jimmy Lee Rucker died June 20, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Overdose, age 53.
• Charles Craig Williamson died June 20, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 55.
• Sharod Farran Johnson died June 26, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 31.
• James Michael Jenkins died July 10, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Overdose, age 61.
• Ronald Wayne Kidd died October 30, 2023, at Washington State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 61.
• Jimmy Lee Reed died April 2, 2024, at Washington State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 66.
• Jacob Cole Henson died April 23, 2024, at Washington State Prison; Use of Force, age 31. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a GDC officer fatally shot Henson during a fight at a hospital while transporting him for treatment of a stabbing earlier that day.
• Johntavis Jermaine Kellom died May 2, 2024, at Washington State Prison; Overdose, age 36.
• Torrey Wayne Forrester died July 1, 2024, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 41.
• Devonte Tiger Williams died August 9, 2024, at Washington State Prison; Homicide, age 26. The incident log records the cause as multiple sharp force injuries to the torso, head and neck.
• Dontavious Carter died January 7, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Homicide. GPS's incident log records that a contraband-phone video documented the killing and that GDC was accused of downplaying violence.
• Robert Washington died January 14, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical.
• Yoncey Jallah died April 23, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 49.
• Lamontez Winkfield died May 11, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Homicide, age 22.
• Michael Lareco Daniel died June 20, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Homicide, age 44.
• William Earl Long died July 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Accident, age 52.
• Darrin Gresham died August 8, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 60.
• Wayne Krier died November 5, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 77.
• Benjamin Horne died December 15, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Overdose, age 51.
• Taylor Allen Howard died December 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; Natural/Medical, age 66.

Incidents logged during this posting include the beating of Jamie Shahan in a series of entries from January 12 to February 16, 2025, after which he was reported on life support with severe brain injuries; a November 25, 2025 staffing collapse at Washington State Prison and Dooly State Prison in which many housing units reportedly had no officer present for hours or entire shifts; 2025 reports of blue water contamination with rashes and stomach complaints; an event in September 2024 describing a methamphetamine network run from inside the prison; and the November 16, 2025 appointment of Tamara Grier as Deputy Warden of Security. A January 23, 2025 report described systemic gang activity, contraband smuggling via drone drops and alleged staff complicity.

Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment, from July 16, 2026. Joseph Earl Adams died August 30, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 58. Reports dated July 16–17, 2026 describe, as allegations: a January 2026 melee after which a monitored conversation indicated at least seven people died; an inter-gang assault producing a severe head injury and brain death; a stabbing during a facility-wide lockdown in place since early that year; Security Threat Groups allegedly controlling several housing buildings and paying others to commit filmed assaults; a stabbing death in administrative segregation; and a family member's account that an incarcerated person died after life support was withdrawn following a violent incident with another incarcerated person who had previously been flagged to officials. One source alleged the surveillance system failed to record a fatal assault. The same records allege a December 2025 fight possibly linked to a prior death, a 2025 gang fight between Bloods and GDs that produced stabbings and one death, and a statewide lockdown at Washington, Dooly, Macon, Smith and Wilcox linked to a Bloods conflict. A case submission dated October 1, 2026 describes a tactical team operation at Macon State Prison with about 14 vans on site and the facility left on lockdown.

Litigation

• Ridley v. Jackson, No. 5:22-cv-00229, docketed in GAMD, filed June 24, 2022 and terminated October 13, 2022; no outcome amount is recorded.

Sources

• GPS death registry — cause, date and age for each named decedent at Washington State Prison
• GPS incident log — Jamie Shahan assaults, Devonte Tiger Williams, Dontavis Carter, staffing collapse, water contamination, Marquis Reshawn Jefferson and Michael Lee Jackson entries
• GPS case submission and monitored-conversation records from Washington State Prison, July–October 2026
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on the death of Jacob Cole Henson
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 findings on violence and gang activity in Georgia prisons
• CourtListener docket — Ridley v. Jackson, No. 5:22-cv-00229 (GAMD)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 18, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.