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Jester, Teketa
Status: active
Profile written August 23, 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
GPS records identify Teketa Jester as a Georgia Department of Corrections employee with recorded posts from 2003 through the latest supplied data. Jester’s early roles include sergeant and corrections officer at West Central Integrated Treatment Facility; from 2016 through 2022 Jester held captain, unit manager, and deputy warden postings; and from 2023 onward Jester moved into facility leadership roles. Across the facility-leader tenures captured in the records, GPS attributes 42 deaths: 18 at Baldwin State Prison, 14 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, and 10 at Central State Prison. No lawsuits naming Jester as a defendant appear in the structured record. The position log lists overlapping postings: Jester is recorded as Deputy Warden at Central State Prison and Deputy Warden of Security at GDCP for the same January–June 2023 window, and later as Warden at Central State Prison through December 15, 2024 while also listed as Warden at Baldwin State Prison from January 1, 2024 onward.What happened on their watch
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, January–June 2023
GPS records attribute 14 deaths to GDCP during Jester’s recorded tenure. Among the named decedents, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s prison homicides investigation reported that Carrell D. Johnson, 32, died from chopping injuries of the head and sharp-force injuries of the torso, and that Elmer W. Pless, 65, died from strangulation. For Billy Joe Farmer, 42, GPS records note that the GBI medical examiner certified the manner of death as suicide, while a later family submission disputed that finding; the registry retains the certified manner. Intelligence records for GDCP during this period carry allegations of security failures, including contraband cellphones and a newly convicted person possessing a homemade shank.Central State Prison — Deputy Warden January–June 2023, Warden July 2023–December 2024
GPS records attribute 10 deaths to Central State Prison during Jester’s recorded tenures there. In December 2023, according to the AJC, Hollis Alan Bryant, 28, died from sharp force trauma to the left femoral artery, and Marquis Lamar Johnson, 26, died from a stab wound to the chest; a DOJ report cited by the AJC states that three prisoners were criminally charged in Bryant’s death. On December 9, 2024, Leon Culver Kelly, 47, died at Central State Prison; GPS research notes that a coroner confirmed multiple stab wounds, as reported by 13WMAZ. Other deaths during the tenure carry cause categories without plain-language cause in the supplied record.Baldwin State Prison — Warden/Warden 1/Warden 2, January 2024 through latest record dates
GPS records attribute 18 deaths to Baldwin State Prison during Jester’s recorded tenure there. In January 2025, a GDC-released mortality report cited in GPS records lists Henry Finley’s cause as “Homicide due to Multiple Puncture Wounds” and Walter Brown’s cause as “Metastatic Adenocarcinoma.” The records also list Almir Harris, 23, who died on December 31, 2024; separate GPS intel events allege Harris died from diabetic ketoacidosis after denial of medical care. A social-media-sourced report on the January 2026 death of Isaac Evan Robinson, 41, alleges the death occurred in a protective-custody building and describes forced housing practices; GPS records label this as a prisoner report. Facility-level allegations include a 13WMAZ report that a lawsuit filed by Akeim Burgest claims an officer shanked him while a lieutenant watched, and that a federal judge later ordered preservation of evidence. The AJC also reported a lawsuit alleging Joshua Emanuel Williams was negligently placed in a cell with a person who had previously stabbed others.Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation and related reporting on GDCP, Central State Prison, and Baldwin State Prison allegations.
- 13WMAZ — reporting on Baldwin State Prison shanking lawsuit and Central State Prison death of Leon Culver Kelly.
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — reporting on prison staffing shortages and death data.
- GDC official mortality report, January 2025 — as cited in GPS records for Baldwin State Prison causes of death.
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences/medical examiner records — as cited in GPS records for Billy Joe Farmer’s manner-of-death certification.
- DOJ report references — as cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution regarding Central State Prison death of Hollis Alan Bryant.
- GPS records and intel database — structured personnel, death, and incident data.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 2 | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2024-11-16 → present |
| 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
42 people died at facilities under Jester, Teketa's leadership.
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