Johnson, Edwina L

Tenure Summary

Edwina L Johnson's documented GDC career runs from 2000 to the present. The records list a Counselor post at Smith State Prison (2000), a Chief Counselor post specializing in programs at Ware State Prison (2011), Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Ware (2012), a central-office Correction Administration position (2015), and then Deputy Warden at Ware for five consecutive years (2016–2020). From 2021 Johnson is listed as SR MGR, Correctional Administration — at Coffee Correctional Facility in 2021 and without a listed facility from 2022 through July 15, 2025 — and since July 16, 2025 as Regional Operations Coordinator at Jenkins Facility. Pay records show the salary rising from $39,126.48 (2015) to $83,214.24 (2025).

Eight deaths are attributed to Johnson's leadership tenures, all of them at Ware State Prison, according to GPS's death records. No news reports naming Johnson directly appear in the records reviewed. Johnson is listed as a defendant in three federal lawsuits, all terminated, with no damages amounts recorded in the docket data.

What happened on their watch

Ware State Prison — Chief Counselor (2011) and Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (2012). No deaths are attributed to these postings. The records reviewed contain no death, incident or intel items dated to these years at Ware.

Ware State Prison — Deputy Warden (2016–2020). All eight attributed deaths occurred here during this posting, per GPS records. The most recent death records in the sample span April 1 to September 5, 2020, and list: Jimmy Kelly, 72 (April 1); Verlin Edward Spivey, 64 (May 13); James Franklin Conkle, 71 (May 19); Robert Lee Wilson III, 31 (July 17); Steve Purcell Jones, 44 (July 20); Tony Jackson, 68 (July 26); Trent Lorenzo Veal Sr., 51 (August 20); and Christopher Arnett Rawls, 32 (September 5). Ages ranged from 31 to 72. Two of these deaths carry documented homicide detail: Wilson died of multiple stab wounds, and an incident report cited by GPS records shows 16 other inmates involved and seven injured; Rawls died by strangulation.

Against the same posting, GPS event records log a hostage-taking and mass disturbance on August 1, 2020: malfunctioning doors let inmates out of their rooms, two guards were taken hostage — one beaten and stabbed — and hundreds of inmates ransacked the prison. GDC records cited in that entry show 33 homemade weapons used, 55 security staff directly involved, and a mass employee exodus afterward. Two further incident entries reference a 2020 riot and a punitive lockdown response with power cuts during summer heat; both are dated only to 2020 in the records. A GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger entry records a $50,578.28 state liability payout tied to Ware (Christopher Stewart, 2016 incident) and a $10,000 payout tied to Ware (Denard Brown, 2019 incident); the Brown entry is described as linked to a documented death record. These settlements are logged separately from the eight attributed deaths.

Coffee Correctional Facility — SR MGR, Correctional Administration (2021); central-office SR MGR (2022–July 15, 2025); Jenkins Facility — Regional Operations Coordinator (from July 16, 2025). No deaths are attributed to these postings. Records list the role and dates only.

Litigation

• Smith v. Ward, No. 1:19-cv-03871 (N.D. Ga. / GAND) — filed August 12, 2019; terminated June 7, 2023. Filed while Johnson held the Deputy Warden post at Ware. No outcome amount recorded.
• Gandy v. Bryson, No. 5:16-cv-00044 (S.D. Ga. / GASD) — filed June 9, 2016; terminated April 5, 2019. Filed in the first year of the Ware Deputy Warden posting. No outcome amount recorded.
• Slaughter v. Gramiak, No. 5:15-cv-00090 (S.D. Ga. / GASD) — filed November 17, 2015; terminated February 11, 2022. Filed while Johnson's listed position was central-office Correction Administration (2015). No outcome amount recorded.

The docket data does not state the underlying claims or any finding of liability in these cases.

Sources

• CourtListener dockets — Smith v. Ward (1:19-cv-03871), Gandy v. Bryson (5:16-cv-00044), Slaughter v. Gramiak (5:15-cv-00090)
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Ware State Prison payouts tied to 2016 (Christopher Stewart) and 2019 (Denard Brown)
• GDC incident records, via GPS event records — August 1, 2020 Ware hostage-taking and mass disturbance; July 17, 2020 stabbing death of Robert Lee Wilson III; 2020 riot/lockdown entries
• Georgia Prisoners' Speak death records for Ware State Prison, 2020 (eight attributed deaths); GPS personnel records for Johnson's positions and salaries, 2000–2025

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.