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Jackson, Tarra L Tomlin
Status: active
Profile written August 16, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
GPS records list Tarra L Tomlin Jackson as a behavioral health counselor from 2015 through 2017, a correctional unit manager from 2018 through 2020, and deputy warden at Washington State Prison beginning Jan. 1, 2021. The posting table runs through 2025; death records in the GPS sample for 2026 also list Jackson as deputy warden at Washington State Prison. GPS attributes 41 deaths to Jackson’s Washington State Prison facility leadership tenure, all at Washington State Prison.The attributed deaths include homicides, drug-toxicity deaths, natural deaths, a suicide, and deaths for which no official cause is available in GPS records. Jackson’s tenure overlaps with a federal civil-rights scrutiny of Georgia prisons, a January 2026 Washington State Prison disturbance that killed multiple people, and one federal lawsuit naming Jackson as a defendant.
What happened on their watch
Washington State Prison — Deputy Warden. The earliest death in the GPS sample during Jackson’s deputy warden tenure is David Terry Melton, 25, on Jan. 5, 2022; GBI records obtained via open records list cause as ligature hanging, manner suicide. In 2022, the sample also includes Marquis Reshawn Jefferson, 26, who died May 11, and Michael Lee Jackson, 60, who died Aug. 17. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation lists their causes as stab wounds to the torso and arm, and multiple blunt force injuries in the setting of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, respectively. William A. Brooks, 67, died Nov. 25, 2022; GPS files state GBI declined an autopsy and no official cause is available.Drug-toxicity deaths recur in 2023. Garrett Lee Bailey, 39, died June 12, 2023, of methamphetamine toxicity according to GBI DOFS records. Jimmy Lee Rucker, 53, and James Michael Jenkins, 61, also died of methamphetamine toxicity in June and July 2023. In 2024, the AJC reports Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died Aug. 9 from multiple sharp force injuries to the torso, head, and neck. Jacob Cole Henson, 31, died April 23, 2024; a Washington County death certificate states manner homicide and cause multiple gunshot wounds, with field 43 reading “GUNSHOT WOUNDS WHILE FIGHTING WITH PRISON GUARDS.” GBI records summarized in the file list five gunshot wounds and manner homicide.
In January 2025, a GDC-published mortality PDF lists Dontavious Carter’s cause as homicide due to a puncture wound to the heart, and Robert Washington’s as cardiac arrest/DM II/obesity. Michael Lareco Daniel, 44, died June 20, 2025; the death certificate on file lists sharp force trauma to the head and “assaulted by other.”
In January 2026, GPS death records list Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, 23, Jimmy Lee Trammell, 42, and Teddy Dewayne Jackson, 27 as killed in a disturbance at Washington State Prison. Silas Westbrook, 42, died Jan. 17 after transfer; a Washington County death certificate lists homicide from delayed complications of multiple sharp force injuries. GDC called the event a suspected gang-affiliated disturbance, according to 11Alive, WGXA, 13WMAZ, and AJC reports cited in the file. GPS records note 12 inmates were later charged with felony murder and related offenses. The sample also holds three February 2026 “John Doe” entries flagged as investigation-only and absent from GDC’s official February mortality report. In June 2026, Isreal Moses Jones, 68, and Courtney Davis, 43, died; GPS event records state the GDC Office of Professional Standards opened investigations.
Intel reports collected by GPS allege broader conditions at Washington State Prison. An AJC report cited in the file says a U.S. DOJ report described violence, sexual assaults, and gang-run prisons fueled by a culture of indifference; 41NBC reported DOJ found in 2024 that Georgia officials were “deliberately indifferent” to violence, drug use, extortion, and sexual abuse. 13WMAZ reporting quoted former inmates alleging chronic understaffing, overcrowded dorms, and little supervision. WGXA reported a federal investigation and indictment of Luis Alfonso Ramirez for allegedly directing a drug-trafficking network from Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones. GPS records describe Washington State Prison as a DOJ-CRIPA named facility.
Litigation
- Ridley v. Jackson, No. 5:22-cv-00229, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Filed June 24, 2022; terminated Oct. 13, 2022. GPS records list no settlement or judgment amount.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation entries for Washington State Prison deaths; reporting on the January 2026 disturbance and DOJ/consultant findings.
- WGXA — reporting on the Ramirez drug-trafficking indictment, GDC gang-affiliation statements, and family statements after the Washington State Prison disturbance.
- 13WMAZ — reporting on former inmates’ conditions allegations and the 12 inmates charged.
- 11Alive — reporting cited for GDC’s gang-activity allegation.
- 41NBC — reporting on June 2026 deaths and DOJ findings cited in GPS intel records.
- WFXL — reporting on 12 inmates charged in the disturbance.
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences records obtained via Georgia Open Records requests — autopsy and declination reports for multiple Washington State Prison deaths.
- Washington County coroner records and Georgia death certificates — including those for Jacob Henson, Michael Lareco Daniel, Teddy Jackson, and Silas Westbrook.
- U.S. DOJ CRIPA / Eighth Amendment records request and GDC mortality reports cited in GPS records.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → present |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2018-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:22-cv-00229 | GAMD | 2022-06-24 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
41 people died at facilities under Jackson, Tarra L Tomlin's leadership.
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