Jester, Teketa

Tenure Summary

Teketa Jester's record at the Georgia Department of Corrections runs from an entry-level post to a facility command. She appears as a Sergeant at West Central Integrated Treatment Facility in 2003 and returned there as a Correctional Officer in 2015, then moved up through Correctional Captain (2016), Correctional Unit Manager (2017–2020), and Deputy Warden (2021–2022) — years for which the records name a rank but no facility. In 2023 she held two deputy posts at once in the records: Deputy Warden at Central State Prison and Deputy Warden of Security at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP), both dated January 1 through June 30, 2023. She was Warden at Central State from July 1, 2023 (records carry that posting through December 15, 2024) and Warden at Baldwin State Prison from November 2024 onward, listed as "WARDEN 1," then "WARDEN 2" in 2025 at a salary of $111,278.16, and again as Warden from October 16, 2026 with no end date.

GPS attributes 45 deaths to her leadership tenures: 21 at Baldwin State Prison, 14 at GDCP, and 10 at Central State Prison. No lawsuit naming Jester as a defendant appears in the records, and no news report in the records names her directly. The allegations that do appear are directed at officers and conditions inside the facilities she commanded.

What happened on their watch

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, January 1 to June 30, 2023. GPS attributes 14 deaths at GDCP to this period. The registry records Carrell Beontae Johnson, 32, dying June 6, 2023 from chopping injuries to the head and sharp force injuries to the torso, and Elmer W. Pless, 65, dying May 15, 2023 by strangulation. Desmond Layne Hattaway died by suicide in the prison's mental-health dormitory after being placed in segregation, according to GPS event records describing inadequate monitoring. A family member reporting to GPS disputed the prison's suicide ruling in one GDCP death, telling GPS the decedent had received a death threat three days earlier, was supposed to be in isolation, and had asked for medical help minutes before being found dead but was told to wait until after count; the report does not name the decedent.

Central State Prison — Deputy Warden (January 1 – June 30, 2023), then Warden from July 1, 2023. GPS attributes 10 deaths at Central State to her tenure there. In the last weeks of December 2023 two incarcerated men were stabbed to death, part of six Georgia prison deaths in a month, per Georgia Public Broadcasting. Marquis L. Johnson, 26, was stabbed in the prison barbershop on December 8, 2023, hospitalized, and died December 18 after going into cardiac arrest secondary to the stabbing; Hollis Alan Bryant, 28, died December 17, 2023 of sharp force trauma to the left femoral artery, and three other prisoners were criminally charged. Allegations GPB published on December 27, 2023 — during her tenure as Warden — described Georgia prison conditions as horrific, said inadequate staffing endangered incarcerated people's lives, said severe staff shortages let gang members effectively run the prisons, and said families of the dead are left without information. Named in the registry during this tenure:

• Deanthony Terrell Fleming died February 14, 2024, at Central State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 37.
• Jeremiah Eugene Taylor died April 21, 2024, at Central State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 41.
• Thomas Dewayne Kiker died June 22, 2024, at Central State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 49.
• Anthony Le Ray Baugher died October 26, 2024, at Central State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 68.
• Leon Culver Kelly died December 9, 2024, at Central State Prison; registry lists Homicide, age 47.

Baldwin State Prison — Warden from November 2024. GPS attributes 21 deaths at Baldwin to her tenure. Named in the registry:

• Al Mir Harris died December 31, 2024, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 23. A separate GPS event entry describes the death of Almir Harris, 23, as diabetic ketoacidosis following denial of essential medical care.
• Henry Finley died January 19, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Homicide.
• Walter Brown died January 22, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending.
• Mark Tyrone Miller died February 7, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 62.
• Douglas Jerome Salter died March 27, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 87.
• Cedric Phillips died September 14, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 48.
• Jack Eubanks died October 24, 2025, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 73.
• Isaac Evan Robinson died January 2, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Homicide, age 41.
• Melvin A Greene died January 15, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 80.
• Leroy Keye died March 4, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 71.
• Ronald Gene Mcghee died March 21, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 66.
• Derek Oneal Boyd died March 21, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 68.
• Ricky Carroll Mathis died April 5, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Homicide, age 38.
• James Monroe Dailey died May 10, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 64.
• Richard Lyle Timmons died May 19, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 37.
• Artinez Rafael Ceaser died July 3, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 35.
• Terry Lee Goolsby died July 15, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 45.
• Edward Allen Pitt died July 24, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Natural/Medical, age 65.
• Robert Franklin Barbee died August 14, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 57.
• Rondal Booth Morrison died September 4, 2026, at Baldwin State Prison; registry lists Unknown/Pending, age 51.

Investigations and litigation overlap this posting. The GDC Office of Professional Standards opened a standard-procedure investigation into Ricky Mathis's death, sending the body to the GBI crime lab; GDC reported no signs of altercation. On July 7, 2026, a 33-year-old inmate was found dead alone in his cell, with the Baldwin County Coroner's Office and GDC Professional Standards investigating and an autopsy scheduled at the GBI Crime Laboratory. A federal lawsuit filed April 13, 2026 by Gary Moore accuses four Baldwin officers of failing to protect Vincent Dyer from a fatal stabbing; 13WMAZ reported allegations that Dyer had reported threats and asked to be moved, that an officer allowed inmates into his dormitory, that officers did not respond during or after the attack, and that logbook entries failed to accurately document it. A Baldwin County jury convicted Traquan Bangs of malice murder in May in that stabbing and sentenced him to life without parole plus five years. Inmate Akeim Burgest sued an officer and a lieutenant in February 2026 over an alleged shanking — the suit claims an officer threw a water bottle at him, then returned with a shank and stabbed him while a lieutenant watched — and a federal judge ordered GDC to preserve all records, including camera footage. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on January 21, 2025 that Jamari McClinton's protective-custody status was removed when he was transferred from Phillips State Prison, leaving him vulnerable to gang threats that led to his death, and on a suit alleging Joshua Emanuel Williams was negligently placed in a cell with an inmate who had previously stabbed other inmates. On January 28, 2026 the AJC reported Lieutenant Tracey Wise admitted smuggling K-2-laced papers for Bloods member Ryan Brandt three times at $2,500 each. Inside reports to GPS in 2026 alleged a month-long movement shutdown in one dormitory with men turned away at callouts and medical-request access problems including an unsecured drop box whose padlock an officer cut; facility-wide water outages and suspected mold on food trays; daily fights with few officers present; and an informal market in state clothing and sheets. A July 9, 2026 inside report alleged a stabbing in which other incarcerated people carried the victim to medical care while staff, including the warden, did not intervene, and the facility was locked down.

Sources

• Georgia Public Broadcasting — December 27, 2023 report on six deaths in a month, staffing shortages, gang control and family access to information during the Central State tenure
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigations coverage of the McClinton and Williams cases (January 21, 2025) and the Tracey Wise smuggling admission (January 28, 2026) at Baldwin State Prison
• 13WMAZ — reporting on the Dyer federal lawsuit (April 2026) and the Burgest shanking suit at Baldwin State Prison
• Court records — February 2026 Burgest suit, April 13, 2026 Middle District of Georgia suit filed by Gary Moore, the Williams suit, and the Baldwin County malice-murder conviction of Traquan Bangs
• GPS intake reports and event records — inside reports from Baldwin State Prison (2026) and a family member's account from Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2023)
• GDC Office of Professional Standards and GBI Crime Laboratory references in the Mathis and July 2026 Baldwin death investigations

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Nov 1, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.