Johnson, Curtis Tyrone

Tenure Summary

Curtis Tyrone Johnson has worked within the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2005, moving across a notably varied career path — from tactical squad and CERT team roles to behavioral health counseling and, most recently, facility-level security command. GPS records show Johnson held the title of Deputy Warden, then Deputy Warden of Security, at Calhoun State Prison beginning January 2025 and continuing through at least the end of the data period. Seven deaths at Calhoun State Prison are attributed to his deputy-warden tenure in GPS records. That tenure overlaps with a documented federal investigation into conditions at the facility, multiple allegations of staff misconduct, and a pattern of violence and neglect that the DOJ has characterized systemically across GDC.

What Happened on Their Watch

Calhoun State Prison — Deputy Warden / Deputy Warden of Security (January 2025–present)

GPS records attribute seven deaths at Calhoun State Prison to Johnson's tenure as a facility deputy. Charles Owens died January 6, 2025, with GPS records noting a ruptured abdominal aneurysm. Theodore Roundtree died January 19, 2025; GPS records note the cause as homicide due to multiple stab wounds. Gary Bernard Duncan (age 67) died May 4, 2025; Tyler Jackson (age 30) died June 28, 2025; and Thomas Haugabook (age 67) died September 25, 2025 — all three listed under cause category 6 with no further detail in the records. Matthew Len Nutt (age 37) died December 21, 2025; a user report in GPS records alleges this was a homicide in the segregation unit. Jimmy McMullen (age 67) died January 28, 2026; GPS records note he had battled cancer for a long time, with the record sourced from social media.

Johnson's tenure as Deputy Warden of Security also coincides with a series of serious allegations documented at Calhoun by federal investigators and the press. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WALB, a DOJ investigation found that staff at Calhoun State Prison failed to follow classification and housing assignment procedures, contributing to a 2022 homicide in which DaQuavious Cachone Lackey, 21, was killed by his cellmate. Federal investigators also documented, per WALB, that an incarcerated person at Calhoun died of dehydration after staff shut off his water, closed his cell door flap, and withheld meals for two days — an event GPS records place in 2023. The AJC reported an allegation that prison staff cut off a prisoner's food and water as retaliation, leading to death from dehydration and renal failure.

The AJC further reported that GDC failed to submit drug evidence to the state crime lab in at least 11 dismissed cases involving 15 defendants, including five prison employees, at or near Calhoun State Prison — undermining what the agency described as a "zero tolerance" policy on smuggling. Two correctional officers, Corlethia Lattimore and Imani Ferguson, were alleged by the AJC to have brought contraband — including 112 grams of methamphetamine and tobacco — into the facility. GPS records also document that two incarcerated persons, Joey Amour Jackson and Lance Riddle, were convicted of running a nationwide wire fraud and extortion operation targeting approximately 119 victims across six states using contraband cell phones from Calhoun; a Managed Access System was installed at the facility mid-2025, after that operation had already occurred.

Per National Today and WALB, the family of Willie Andrew Willis Jr. alleges he was thrown from a balcony at Calhoun and that nearly an hour elapsed before he was airlifted for treatment; medical records list sepsis as cause of death. The family further alleges nurses gave a conflicting account of his condition. A federal report cited by WALB found that incarcerated individuals systemwide were left unsupervised, found hours after dying, or left to tend to their own severe injuries. The same federal report described an "environment of fear and complacency" within GDC and concluded that Georgia's prison system fails to provide the constitutionally required minimum of reasonable physical safety. GPS records additionally note that 87 lifers were systematically transferred out of Calhoun to close-security facilities between February and April 2026, with 79.3% sent to Level 5 facilities, and that a grand jury heard 35 Calhoun-related cases on June 2, 2025, while more than 300 cases remained pending.

Litigation

The lawsuits listed in GPS records as associated with Johnson do not appear, based on their case names and subject matter, to be connected to his GDC employment or the deaths documented above. GPS records include no lawsuits naming Johnson as a defendant in his capacity as a GDC official.

• United States v. Johnson, No. 2:19-mj-00032 (GASD), filed 2019-12-06, closed 2019-12-10, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.
• Beatovic Curtis v. Ethicon Inc, No. 1:17-cv-04706 (GAND), filed 2017-11-22, status pending. No outcome amount recorded.
• Curling v. Raffensperger, No. 1:17-cv-02989 (GAND), filed 2017-08-08, closed 2025-03-31, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.
• Benvenutti v. Geico General Insurance Company, No. 5:22-cv-00182 (GAMD), filed 2022-05-11, closed 2024-05-30, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.
• Wby Inc v. Dekalb County Georgia, No. 1:14-cv-00253 (GAND), filed 2014-01-28, closed 2018-02-12, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.
• Jackson v. Healthport Technologies LLC, No. 1:11-cv-01687 (GAND), filed 2011-05-24, closed 2011-10-05, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.
• Lattimer v. United States, No. 4:10-cv-00081 (GASD), filed 2010-04-08, closed 2010-11-19, terminated. No outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Calhoun State Prison homicides, DOJ investigation findings, staff misconduct, and drug smuggling case dismissals
• WALB — reporting on Willie Andrew Willis Jr. death, DOJ investigation findings on GDC systemic conditions, Calhoun State Prison incidents
• National Today — reporting on Willie Andrew Willis Jr. death and family allegations
• GPS records — deaths during tenure, position history, intel events, and user/Telegram-relay incident reports at Calhoun State Prison
• DOJ investigation findings — cited via AJC and WALB reporting on GDC systemic conditions and Calhoun-specific failures
• CourtListener — lawsuit docket records

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.