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Jones, Deshawn B
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Deshawn B. Jones began his career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Arrendale State Prison in 2006 and later served in staff and social‑services roles before ascending to facility leadership. He held superintendent or warden posts at Atlanta Transitional Center (2018), Rutledge State Prison (2020‑2021), Phillips State Prison (2022‑2023), and Augusta State Medical Prison (2024‑present). During his leadership tenures, GPS records attribute 158 deaths to the facilities he oversaw. The bulk of those deaths — 137 — occurred at Augusta State Medical Prison, with 15 at Phillips and 6 at Rutledge. At least five federal lawsuits name Jones as a defendant in connection with conditions or incidents at those facilities; none have yet resulted in a disclosed monetary settlement, though one (Leaphart v. Jones) was terminated.What happened on their watch
Rutledge State Prison (2020‑2021)
Jones arrived as Correctional Superintendent in 2020 and was promoted to Warden 1 in 2021. Six deaths are attributed to his time at Rutledge. In July 2021, Curtis Mincey died from blunt‑force trauma to the head, neck, torso, and extremities; a lawsuit later filed by his sister alleged he suffered from mental illness but received no appropriate medical or psychological care, according to an Atlanta Journal‑Constitution investigation. The other five deaths during this period — including Harold Edward Brown (2021) and four men in 2020 (Richard Hatcher, Terry Wayne Williams, James Eric Mitchell, Andrew Phillip Campbell) — are classified as undetermined or pending cause. A separate AJC report detailed a sergeant at Rutledge who admitted to smuggling cellphones, chargers, and food to prisoners in exchange for money, reflecting the broader contraband problems that surfaced during Jones’s tenure.
Phillips State Prison (2022‑2023)
As Warden 1 (2022) and Warden 2 (2023), Jones presided over 15 deaths. The record includes multiple homicides: Jacob Daniels (18), Sidney Neally (22), Jamal Cymonne Johnson (32), Quafabian Melik McBride (19), Alim Racheed Lovett (33), Arthur Wimbush (46), and Randall Joey Futch, Sr. (61) — the latter originally reported as natural but later reclassified by the Richmond County Coroner as homicide from delayed complications of blunt‑force head trauma. An AJC investigation alleged that officers arranged for McBride to be brought to the lockdown unit on the day he was killed in a gang‑related stabbing. Two suicides (James Arthur Smith, 25; Joseph Ray Morrison, 57) and multiple natural deaths rounded out the toll, with cause confirmed by Gwinnett County Coroner reports.
Augusta State Medical Prison (2024‑present)
Jones took over as Warden 3 on January 1, 2024, and transitioned to the Warden title in June of that year. Since then, 137 deaths have been recorded at the prison. The facility houses medically fragile and mentally ill prisoners, so the majority of deaths were ruled natural: cancers, heart disease, organ failure, and sepsis account for most of the coroner‑verified cases. Yet the sample also contains at least four suicides (Milton Cameron, William Eugene Davis, Jamie Lang Lewis, Stephen Prochaska) and two confirmed homicides: Jerry Wayne Merritt, stabbed by a fellow prisoner over a commissary debt in January 2026, and Jacobi Alandis Chomicki, killed in a D‑unit assault in May 2026 — a homicide that GPS relay reports detected in real time. GPS intelligence further documented a string of violent incidents at Augusta in early 2026, including a stabbing to the eye, a severe beating, and four prisoners arriving with wired‑shut jaws. During Jones’s tenure, a federal judge held GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver in contempt for defying a court order on prisoner email contacts, and the AJC published a sweeping investigation detailing rampant corruption, understaffing, and record homicides inside Georgia prisons, all while a 2024 Department of Justice report described a “culture of indifference” that enabled violence and sexual assaults.
Litigation
- Morgan v. Oliver, 1:25‑cv‑01700 (N.D. Ga.), filed March 31, 2025 — pending.
- Ryhme v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 1:24‑cv‑04156 (N.D. Ga.), filed September 16, 2024 — pending.
- Emery v. Holt, 1:24‑cv‑03486 (N.D. Ga.), filed August 6, 2024 — pending.
- Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 1:23‑cv‑05578 (N.D. Ga.), filed December 6, 2023 — pending.
- Leaphart v. Jones, 1:23‑cv‑02227 (N.D. Ga.), filed May 17, 2023 — terminated March 28, 2024.
Sources
- GPS structured records — total deaths attributed, facility‑level counts, death‑incident sample.
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — multiple reports on GDC homicides, Department of Justice findings, contraband scheme at Rutledge, and the contempt hearing involving Commissioner Oliver.
- Gwinnett County Coroner / GBI Medical Examiner reports — causes and manners of death for Phillips State Prison in‑custody deaths.
- Richmond County Coroner’s Office — natural, accident, suicide, and homicide rulings for Augusta State Medical Prison deaths.
- GDC official mortality reports (January 2025 PDF and CY2024 report) — confirmed causes of death for select Augusta cases.
- Federal court dockets (CourtListener) — lawsuits filed against Deshawn Jones.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 3 | AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Warden | AUGUSTA STATE MEDICAL PRISON | 2024-06-16 → present |
| WARDEN 2 | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | PHILLIPS STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | RUTLEDGE STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | RUTLEDGE STATE PRISON | 2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | ATLANTA TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| SOCIAL SVCS PRGM MGR 3 | ARRENDALE TRANSITIONAL CENTER | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | Arrendale State Prison | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | Arrendale State Prison | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:25-cv-01700 | GAND | 2025-03-31 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-04156 | GAND | 2024-09-16 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-03486 | GAND | 2024-08-06 | pending |
| 1:23-cv-05578 | GAND | 2023-12-06 | pending |
| 1:23-cv-02227 | GAND | 2023-05-17 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
158 people died at facilities under Jones, Deshawn B's leadership.
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