Johnson, Curtis Tyrone

Tenure Summary

Curtis Tyrone Johnson's Georgia Department of Corrections career runs from 2005, when he served on the Tactical (TACT) Squad at Autry State Prison, through a Sergeant post in 2007, a CERT Team Sergeant role in 2013, Counselor in 2014, and behavioral-health counselor positions beginning in 2015, including a year at Albany Transitional Center in 2016. He was a Correctional Lieutenant from 2017 through 2020, returned to behavioral health work, and by 2023 was a Behavioral Health Counselor 3 at Calhoun State Prison, where he was promoted to Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor on November 22, 2023.

His leadership tenure at Calhoun State Prison began January 1, 2025, when he is listed as both Deputy Warden and Chief Counselor, and continued from May 16, 2025, as Deputy Warden of Security — the role recorded for him at the time of every death attributed to his leadership. GPS's death registry attributes five deaths to his tenure, all of them at Calhoun State Prison. These records contain no lawsuits naming him as a defendant, and his status is listed as active.

What happened on their watch

Calhoun State Prison — Deputy Warden and Chief Counselor (Jan 1, 2025 – May 15, 2025); Deputy Warden of Security (May 16, 2025 – present). Five deaths are attributed to Johnson's leadership tenure at this facility. In chronological order, per GPS's death registry:

• Tyler Jackson died June 28, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 30.
• Thomas Haugabook died September 25, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 67.
• Matthew Len Nutt died December 21, 2025, at Calhoun State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 37.
• Jimmy McMullen died January 28, 2026, at Calhoun State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 67.
• Freddie Lee Patterson died May 13, 2026, at Calhoun State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 51.

Reports logged against his Deputy Warden of Security tenure include a WALB account dated February 13, 2026, of federal findings that Georgia's prison system fails to provide incarcerated people the constitutionally required minimum of reasonable physical safety; that people cleaned and dressed their own wounds with toothpaste, coffee grounds, dirt and makeshift bandages; that EMS responses were delayed an average of 30 minutes; and that staff at Calhoun failed to follow classification and housing assignment procedures, contributing to a 2022 homicide. The same reporting states the DOJ found Georgia underreports homicides, and that a Calhoun grievance alleging extortion and gang violence was rejected as untimely with no follow-up. Items logged under this tenure also describe the 2023 dehydration death of an incarcerated person in restrictive housing, the 2024 death of Kenneth Piper, the stabbing death of DaQuavious Cachone Lackey, and the death of Willie Andrew Willis Jr., whose family alleges, per WALB, that he was thrown from a balcony and waited nearly an hour for an airlift.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution report dated June 19, 2025, logged against this tenure, describes GDC's failure to submit drug evidence in at least 11 dismissed cases and the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department's failure to do so in 12 more; arrest warrants taken by GDC investigator Ruby Long in a case against officers Corlethia Lattimore and Imani Ferguson were dismissed in July 2023. An AJC report dated September 28, 2026, records a Florida sheriff's allegation that a scam network ran out of Calhoun State Prison and that Annie Ashley took $15,000 from a woman near Daytona Beach. Events logged during the tenure include the transfer of 87 lifers from Calhoun, the deployment of a Managed Access System across 34 prisons at $50 million capital cost, approximately $464,920 in wire-fraud proceeds attributed to incarcerated men Joey Amour Jackson and Lance Riddle, and a June 2, 2025 grand jury session that heard 35 Calhoun-related cases while more than 300 remained pending.

Sources

• GPS death registry — five deaths during Johnson's leadership tenure at Calhoun State Prison
• WALB — DOJ findings, February 13, 2026
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — smuggling-case dismissals, June 19, 2025
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — prison scam network, September 28, 2026
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation reporting on Georgia Department of Corrections (as summarized by WALB)
• GPS case submissions — assault and stabbing allegations logged April 13, 2026

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 4, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.