Johnson, Edwina L

Tenure Summary

Edwina L. Johnson's GDC record spans 2000 to the present. She entered as a Counselor at Smith State Prison (2000), moved to Ware State Prison as Chief Counselor (2011) and then Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (2012), held a correction administration post in 2015, and served as Deputy Warden at Ware from 2016 through 2020. From 2021 she was a Senior Manager, Correctional Administration — assigned to Coffee Correctional Facility for 2021, then unassigned from 2022 through mid-2025 — and since July 16, 2025 has been listed as Regional Operations Coordinator at Jenkins Facility. Her salary rose from $39,126 (2015) to $83,214 (2025) across those year-by-year records.

GPS records attribute 8 deaths to Johnson's leadership tenures, all 8 at Ware State Prison. Per the positions table, every attributed death falls within her 2016–2020 Deputy Warden posting at that facility (the sampled decedent records all date to 2020). No deaths are attributed to her Smith State Prison, Coffee Correctional Facility, or Jenkins tenures. Johnson is named as a defendant in three federal civil cases, all now terminated with no recorded settlement or judgment amount in GPS records. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, citing GDC incident reports, has reported ten inmate homicides at Ware State Prison between July 2020 and August 2024 — a span that opens during Johnson's deputy wardenship.

What happened on their watch

Ware State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (2012) and Deputy Warden (2016–2020). All eight deaths attributed to Johnson's leadership tenures occurred here, during her 2020 Deputy Warden year. Per Ware County Coroner and GBI Division of Forensic Sciences records obtained via open records request, Jimmy Kelly (72, April 1, 2020) died of stomach cancer with metastases, natural manner; Verlin Edward Spivey (64, May 13) of acute respiratory failure due to pneumonia — GBI DOFS declined to examine the death, and the declination document states no cause or manner; Tony Jackson (68, July 26) of COPD/CAD/HTN with COVID-19 positivity; Steve Purcell Jones (44, July 20) of respiratory failure from COVID-19. Two deaths were ruled homicides by the coroner: Robert Lee Wilson (31, July 17, multiple stab wounds) and Christopher Rawls (32, September 5, strangulation). James Franklin Conkle (71, May 19) appears on GDC's official 2020–2023 mortality report (GDC# 140324, exact match on name, date, facility and age), confirming an in-custody Ware death, but no cause was obtained and GDC no longer releases cause of death. Trent Lorenzo Veal Sr. (51, August 20) is likewise verified on the GDC mortality report (GDC# 725699); his cause is coded "Natural" in the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset — GDC's own coding obtained through an open records request, not an autopsy finding, as GPS records note.

Taken together: four of the eight decedents were 64 or older and died of medical causes, COVID-19 appears in two records, and two homicides occurred roughly seven weeks apart in summer 2020. Separately, the AJC has reported that GDC publicly described an August 1, 2020 Ware incident as a mere "disturbance," while internal records describe hostage-taking, escape attempts, assaults and use of force — the date falls inside Johnson's deputy wardenship.

Coffee Correctional Facility — Senior Manager, Correctional Administration (2021); unassigned (2022–2025). No deaths are attributed to Johnson's tenure here. FOX 5 Atlanta, Yahoo News and the AJC have reported a December 13, 2025 stabbing series at Coffee and the later indictment of 16 inmates on aggravated assault, aggravated battery and gang charges; those events postdate her 2021 posting, and GPS records do not link her to them.

Jenkins Facility — Regional Operations Coordinator (from July 16, 2025). No deaths attributed.

Litigation

• Smith v. Ward, No. 1:19-cv-03871 (N.D. Ga.) — filed August 12, 2019; terminated June 7, 2023. Johnson listed as defendant. No outcome amount recorded per court records.
• Gandy v. Bryson, No. 5:16-cv-00044 (S.D. Ga.) — filed June 9, 2016; terminated April 5, 2019. No outcome amount recorded.
• Slaughter v. Gramiak, No. 5:15-cv-00090 (S.D. Ga.) — filed November 17, 2015; terminated February 11, 2022. No outcome amount recorded.

All three are terminated; the dockets as recorded by GPS do not state a settlement, verdict, or damages figure, and the records provided do not describe the underlying allegations.

Sources

• Ware County Coroner / GBI Division of Forensic Sciences records (ORR production 2026-06-29) — causes of death for Kelly, Spivey, Jackson, Jones, Wilson and Rawls
• GDC 2020–2023 mortality report, as verified in GPS records — custody confirmation for Veal (GDC# 725699) and Conkle (GDC# 140324)
• UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset (GA-Individual.csv) — GDC's "Natural" coding for Veal
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "GA prison homicides" reporting (ten Ware State Prison homicides, July 2020–August 2024) and "Prisons' transparency" reporting on the August 1, 2020 Ware incident
• FOX 5 Atlanta, Yahoo News — Coffee Correctional Facility stabbing indictments (2025–2026)
• CourtListener dockets — Smith v. Ward; Gandy v. Bryson; Slaughter v. Gramiak

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.