Jester, Teketa

Tenure Summary

Teketa Jester's GDC career spans roughly two decades. Salary records show her as a Sergeant at West Central Integrated Treatment Facility in 2003, back at the same facility as a Corrections Officer in 2015 ($44,844.45), then promoted to CSM Correctional Captain (2016), CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2017–2020, salary rising from $54,628.40 to $57,904.08), and Deputy Warden (2021–2022, $63,404.48 to $69,864.52). Her facility-leadership tier begins in 2023.

Across her leadership tenures, 43 deaths are attributed to the facilities she led: 19 at Baldwin State Prison, 14 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP), and 10 at Central State Prison. GPS records list no lawsuit naming Jester as a defendant, and no news report in her file names her directly — the suits and allegations below name officers and lieutenants at the facilities she commanded.

What happened on their watch

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, Jan. 1–Jun. 30, 2023. Fourteen deaths are attributed to GDCP during this tenure. The decedents in GPS's records include Eric Michael Taylor, 48 (Jan. 10); Charles Raimondi, 51 (Jan. 15); Jeremiah Ebenzee Spence, 42 (Jan. 17); James Thomas Seim, 44 (Feb. 8); Billy Joe Farmer, 42 (Mar. 25), Matthew Michael Gragg, 36 (Mar. 26), and Jereuis Markyse Hawkins, 29 (Mar. 27) — three deaths in three days; Desmond Layne Hattaway, 27 (Apr. 16); Elmer W. Pless, 65 and Russell Lamar Nelson, 58 (both May 15); Elden Lamb, 43 (May 17); Robert Carlton Savage, 43 (May 26); Carrell D. Johnson, 32 (Jun. 6); and William Welland, 40 (Jun. 22). Event records state Pless died by strangulation, Johnson from chopping injuries to the head and sharp-force injuries to the torso, and that Hattaway died by suicide in the prison's mental-health dorm after being placed in segregation with, as the record puts it, inadequate monitoring; the death appears on GDC's official mortality report (Apr. 16, 2023, GDC# 1002454441).

Central State Prison — Warden, Jul. 1, 2023–Dec. 15, 2024. Ten deaths are attributed to Central State during this tenure. Leonardo L. Llamas, 59, died Sept. 23, 2023. Two men were stabbed to death in December 2023: Marquis Lamar Johnson, 26, was stabbed in the prison barbershop on Dec. 8 and died Dec. 18 after cardiac arrest secondary to the stabbing; Hollis Alan Bryant, 28, died Dec. 17 of sharp-force trauma to the left femoral artery, and three other prisoners were criminally charged in connection with his death. Joseph W. Akins, 66, died Dec. 25, 2023. In 2024: Adel Eackles, 64 (Feb. 10), Deanthony Terrell Fleming, 37 (Feb. 14), Jeremiah Eugene Taylor, 41 (Apr. 21), Thomas Dewayne Kiker, 49 (Jun. 22), Anthony Le Ray Baugher, 68 (Oct. 26), and Leon Culver Kelly, 47 (Dec. 9). On Dec. 27, 2023, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that six people had died in Georgia state prisons in the prior month and that families are left without information about what happened; the same report described severe staff shortages that allowed gang members to effectively run state prisons. Personnel records also list a single-day "Warden 1" entry at Central State dated Nov. 22, 2023.

Baldwin State Prison — Warden records covering Jan. 1, 2024–Sep. 5, 2026 (listed as WARDEN 1 through Nov. 15, 2024; Warden from Nov. 16, 2024; WARDEN 2 for calendar 2025). Nineteen deaths are attributed to Baldwin during this span — the largest total of any facility she has led. Decedents in the records range from age 23 (Al Mir Harris, recorded Dec. 31, 2024) to 87 (Douglas Jerome Salter, Mar. 27, 2025), and include Henry Finley and Walter Brown (Jan. 2025), Mark Tyrone Miller, 62 (Feb. 7, 2025), Cedric Phillips, 48 (Sep. 14, 2025), Jack Eubanks, 73 (Oct. 24, 2025), Isaac Evan Robinson, 41 (Jan. 2, 2026), Melvin A. Greene, 80 (Jan. 15, 2026), Leroy Keye, 71 (Mar. 4, 2026), Ronald Gene McGhee, 66, and Derek O'Neal Boyd, 68 (both Mar. 21, 2026), Ricky Carroll Mathis, 38 (Apr. 5, 2026), James Monroe Dailey, 64 (May 10, 2026), Richard Lyle Timmons, 37 (May 19, 2026), Artinez Rafael Ceaser, 35 (Jul. 3, 2026), Terry Lee Goolsby, 45 (Jul. 15, 2026), and Edward Allen Pitt, 65 (Jul. 24, 2026). GPS event records describe Harris as an autistic prisoner with type 1 diabetes who died of diabetic ketoacidosis after being denied essential medical care. GDC's Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation into Mathis's death as standard procedure, sending the body to the GBI crime lab with no signs of altercation reported at the time. A separate July 7, 2026 news event records a 33-year-old inmate found dead alone in his cell, pronounced around 7 p.m. the previous Friday, with the Baldwin County Coroner's Office and GDC Professional Standards investigating; the record does not name the decedent.

Allegations logged during the Baldwin tenure include an April 2026 claim that an officer threw a water bottle at inmate Akeim Burgest and later returned with a shank and stabbed him while a lieutenant watched; an August 2026 claim that four officers failed to protect Vincent Dyer from a fatal stabbing after Dyer 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 document it; an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report (Jan. 28, 2026) that Lieutenant Tracey Wise admitted smuggling K-2-laced papers for Bloods gang member Ryan Brandt three times at $2,500 each; and an AJC report (Jan. 21, 2025) that Jamari McClinton's protective-custody status was removed when he was transferred from Phillips State Prison, allegedly leaving him vulnerable to gang threats that led to his death.

Litigation

• Moore v. four Baldwin State Prison correctional officers — federal lawsuit filed Apr. 13, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, accusing four officers of failing to protect Vincent Dyer. Jester is not a named defendant; disposition unknown.
• Burgest v. Baldwin officer and lieutenant — suit filed February 2026 over the alleged shanking of Akeim Burgest; a federal judge ordered GDC to preserve all case records, including camera footage, in April 2026. Jester is not a named defendant; disposition unknown.
• Estate of Joshua Emanuel Williams — suit recorded Jan. 21, 2025 alleging Williams was negligently placed in a cell with an inmate who had previously stabbed other inmates. Jester is not a named defendant; court and disposition not stated.
• State of Georgia v. Traquan Bangs — a Baldwin County jury convicted Bangs of malice murder in May 2026 for the Dyer stabbing; sentenced to life without parole plus five years.

Sources

• Georgia Public Broadcasting — Dec. 27, 2023 report on six prison deaths in one month, staffing shortages, and gang control (Central State tenure)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — prison homicide list entries (Jan. 21, 2025) and "Prisons' Inside Job" reporting (Jan. 28, 2026) at Baldwin State Prison
• 13WMAZ — reports on the Dyer federal suit and the Burgest shanking suit at Baldwin (Apr. 21, 2026; Aug. 24, 2026)
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia — Moore complaint filed Apr. 13, 2026
• GDC Office of Professional Standards investigations into the deaths of Ricky Mathis (Apr. 2026) and a 33-year-old Baldwin inmate (Jul. 2026); Baldwin County Coroner's Office
• GDC official mortality report — Desmond Layne Hattaway entry, Apr. 16, 2023 (GDC# 1002454441)
• GDC personnel and salary records — positions, titles, and compensation, 2003–2026

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.