Johnson, Jacinta Booker

Tenure Summary

Jacinta Booker Johnson joined the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a correctional officer and has spent the bulk of her career at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP) in Jackson, Georgia. She rose through the ranks — sergeant (2016–2018), lieutenant (2019–2020), captain (2021–2023), unit manager (2024–2025) — before being appointed Deputy Warden of Security in April 2026, a position she currently holds. GPS records show 108 deaths attributed to GDCP during the span of her unit-supervisor tenures there (2019–present), including at least six confirmed homicides documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation. Johnson is not named as a defendant in any lawsuit in GPS records, though a federal civil rights suit against the facility and GDC was filed in March 2026 while she held the unit manager role.

What happened on their watch

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Lieutenant (2019–2020)

GPS records attribute 20 deaths at GDCP during Johnson's two years as lieutenant, spanning January 2020 through November 2020 (plus one death in January 2020 recorded under the prior year's role). The overwhelming majority carry cause category 6 (unspecified/other). One death — John Francis Reilly, 40, on July 16, 2020 — is noted as cancer treated at Emory. The cluster of deaths in April–May 2020 (six individuals between April 22 and May 24) coincides with the early COVID-19 period. GPS records also document that GDCP was operating at 568% of its original 1968 design capacity of 800 persons, housing approximately 4,540 incarcerated people in infrastructure unchanged since original construction — a condition that persisted throughout Johnson's entire supervisory tenure.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Captain (2021–2023)

GPS records attribute 57 deaths at GDCP during Johnson's three years as captain. Among these, four are confirmed homicides per the AJC's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation: Boyd Williams, 64, died October 3, 2022 from manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head; Daniel Charriez, 46, died February 23, 2022 from delayed complications of a traumatic brain injury sustained four months prior; Elmer W. Pless, 65, died May 15, 2023 by strangulation; and Carrell D. Johnson, 32, died June 6, 2023 from chopping injuries to the head and sharp-force injuries to the torso, per the AJC. GPS records also document a separate facility-level incident in which an individual who had committed an assault at Coastal State Prison in March 2020 — with no investigation conducted — later strangled a cellmate to death at GDCP in 2022. Intel reports from the AJC during this period allege that nearly every part of GDCP had been vandalized by prisoners, with widespread infrastructure failures; that a newly convicted inmate, Shane Tassi, possessed a homemade shank and contraband cellphone within days of arriving at GDCP, indicating serious security failures; and that an inmate named Charles Lee Broady Jr., despite requesting protection from threatening gang members, was moved to a location where six gang members attacked him with razor blades. The AJC also reported that officer Vera Jackson had previously pleaded guilty (2018) to accepting thousands of dollars from death row inmate Eric Perkinson in exchange for information on upcoming shakedowns — a corruption case predating Johnson's captain tenure but reflecting a documented pattern of internal security failures at the facility.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Unit Manager (2024–2025)

GPS records attribute 31 deaths at GDCP during Johnson's unit manager tenure. Among these, William Rhodes, 38, died February 20, 2025, with GPS records noting the cause as homicide. Jacob Scott Wilcox, 27, died June 28, 2025 (cause category 3). Brandon Trace Burrell, 31, died January 28, 2024; the AJC alleges he was assaulted by another inmate while under the effects of methamphetamine and suffered numerous stab wounds. Regarding Charles Ramen Coppeak, 26, who died November 19, 2025, a user report received by GPS alleges he had been held at GDCP longer than usual and that an autopsy was pending; the report alleges he suffered a seizure before bed that went unnoticed, followed by a fatal seizure in his sleep. Intel events during this period include a documented incident in approximately April 2024 in which inmate Ronald Allen was ordered to separate frozen beef patties with inadequate protective equipment during a prison riot response, resulting in severe cold injury to his hands. A federal civil rights lawsuit — Allen v. Georgia Department of Corrections — was filed March 5, 2026, naming GDC and twelve defendants and alleging medical neglect resulting in amputation of Allen's left hand and permanent damage to his right hand; this suit was filed after Johnson had been promoted to Deputy Warden of Security. Multiple intel events also document that GDCP continued to hold approximately 4,540 people at 568% of original design capacity as of January 2026, with medical, kitchen, shower, and counseling infrastructure unchanged since the facility's original 800-person design.

Litigation

• Allen v. Georgia Department of Corrections — Federal civil rights lawsuit filed March 5, 2026. Per GPS records, plaintiff Ronald Allen alleges medical neglect resulting in amputation of his left hand and permanent damage to his right hand following a cold-injury incident at GDCP in approximately April 2024. Twelve defendants named including GDC. Disposition not yet recorded in GPS records. (Johnson held the unit manager role at GDCP at the time of the alleged incident; she is not listed as a named defendant in GPS records.)

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (homicide cause-of-death records for Williams, Charriez, Pless, C.D. Johnson, Burrell)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on GDCP security failures, contraband, infrastructure conditions, and inmate-on-inmate violence
• GPS records — deaths-during-tenure table, positions table, intel events, and user/research reports for GDCP (facility ID 2)
• GPS records — overcrowding reports documenting GDCP at 568% of original design capacity (January 2025–2026)
• GPS records — Allen v. GDC federal civil rights lawsuit, filed March 5, 2026

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.