Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Jester, Teketa
Jester, Teketa
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 2026
Salary
$111,278
2025 · state payroll
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
Teketa Jester’s GDC record begins in 2003 as a Sergeant at West Central Integrated Treatment Facility, with a return there in 2015 as a Corrections Officer (SP), followed by CSM captain and unit-manager posts from 2016 through 2020, deputy-warden roles in 2021–2022, then facility leadership postings. The positions table shows overlapping assignments: Deputy Warden at Central State Prison and Deputy Warden of Security at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison for January–June 2023; Warden at Central State Prison from July 2023 to December 15, 2024; and Warden roles at Baldwin State Prison beginning January 1, 2024, where she remains in the current record. GPS records attribute 43 deaths to her facility deputy/warden postings: 19 at Baldwin State Prison, 14 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, and 10 at Central State Prison. No lawsuit in the supplied data names Jester as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, Jan–Jun 2023
GPS records attribute 14 deaths to this posting. Decedents include Eric Michael Taylor, Charles Raimondi, Jeremiah Ebeneze Spence, James Thomas Seim, Billy Joe Farmer, Matthew Michael Gragg, Jereuis Markyse Hawkins, Desmond Layne Hattaway, Russell Lamar Nelson, Elmer W. Pless, Elden Lamb, Robert Carlton Savage, Carrell D. Johnson, and William Welland. AJC-sourced records list Carrell D. Johnson’s cause as chopping injuries to the head and sharp-force injuries to the torso, and Elmer W. Pless’s cause as strangulation. The file notes Billy Joe Farmer’s death was certified a suicide by the GBI medical examiner, though his wife later disputed that finding and asserted he was killed; a GDC incident report said Farmer reported a threat to his life minutes before he died and that the death was not video recorded or forwarded for investigation.Central State Prison — Deputy Warden, Jan–Jun 2023; Warden, Jul 2023–Dec 2024
GPS records attribute 10 deaths to Central State Prison leadership roles; the supplied Central death records all date from September 2023 onward, during her Warden tenure. Decedents include Leonardo L. Llamas, Hollis Alan Bryant, Marquis Lamar Johnson, Joseph W. Akins, Adel Eackles, Deanthony Terrell Fleming, Jeremiah Eugene Taylor, Thomas Dewayne Kiker, Anthony Le Ray Baugher, and Leon Culver Kelly. AJC- and DOJ-sourced records identify Bryant as a stabbing victim, with three other prisoners criminally charged, and Johnson as stabbed in the prison barbershop on December 8 and later dying after cardiac arrest secondary to the stabbing. 13WMAZ reported that Kelly was stabbed to death on December 9, 2024, with a coroner confirming multiple stab wounds. GPB reporting cited severe staff shortages and families lacking information after deaths; 13WMAZ later reported that in March 2025 three former Central State guards were accused of beating an inmate and attempting a cover-up.Baldwin State Prison — Warden, 2024–present
GPS records attribute 19 deaths to Baldwin State Prison warden postings. Decedents include Al Mir Harris on December 31, 2024; Henry Finley and Walter Brown in January 2025; Mark Tyrone Miller, Douglas Jerome Salter, Cedric Phillips, and Jack Eubanks in 2025; and Melvin A. Greene, Isaac Evan Robinson, John Doe, Leroy Keye, Derek Oneal Boyd, Ronald Gene McGhee, Ricky Carroll Mathis, James Monroe Dailey, Richard Lyle Timmons, Artinez Rafael Ceaser, Terry Lee Goolsby, and Edward Allen Pitt in 2026. A GDC-released January 2025 mortality PDF lists Finley’s cause as “Homicide due to Multiple Puncture Wounds” and Brown’s as “Metastatic Adenocarcinoma.” A GPS user report about Robinson describes a protective-custody building and alleges officers force inmates back to housing while wardens watch; the note says the source was social media. Mathis’s April 5, 2026 death prompted a GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation, with no cause released in the record. Facility intel includes 13WMAZ reports that four officers were sued for failing to protect Vincent Dyer from a fatal stabbing and that an officer allegedly shanked Akeim Burgest while a lieutenant stood by. AJC-reported lawsuits allege negligent cell placement for Joshua Emanuel Williams and removal of protective custody for Jamari McClinton. Federal contraband cases involving Baldwin officers are also documented.Litigation
The structured record’s `lawsuits_as_defendant` array is empty; none of the following facility-related suits in intel records list Jester as a defendant.- Gary Moore v. four Baldwin State Prison officers, filed April 13, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, alleging failure to protect Vincent Dyer from a fatal stabbing.
- Akeim Burgest v. GDC staffers, filed February 2026, alleging an officer shanked him while a lieutenant failed to intervene; a federal judge ordered evidence preservation on April 21, 2026.
- Lawsuit by the mother of Joshua Emanuel Williams, filed January 21, 2025, alleging negligent placement in a cell with an inmate who had previously stabbed others.
- Allen v. Georgia Department of Corrections, filed March 5, 2026, alleging medical neglect resulting in amputation of the left hand and permanent right-hand damage.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide investigations, Baldwin lawsuits, contraband and security reporting
- 13WMAZ — Central State Prison stabbing, Baldwin officer lawsuits
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — December 27, 2023 staffing and deaths report
- GDC official January 2025 mortality release — causes for Walter Brown and Henry Finley
- GBI Medical Examiner’s Office records — Billy Joe Farmer manner of death
- DOJ investigation report, as cited by AJC — Bryant and Johnson
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia — docket events via GPS intel
- GPS records, user reports, and intel files
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden 2 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| WARDEN 2 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-11-16 → 2026-09-05 |
| WARDEN 1 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-11-15 |
| Warden 1 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| Warden | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2023-07-01 → 2024-12-15 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-06-30 |
| Deputy Warden of Security | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-06-30 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2021-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2017-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | WEST CENTRAL INTEGRATED TREATMENT FACILITY | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Sergeant | WEST CENTRAL INTEGRATED TREATMENT FACILITY | 2003-01-01 → 2003-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
43 people died at facilities under Jester, Teketa's leadership.
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