Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Jones, Deshawn B
Jones, Deshawn B
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 2026
Salary
$122,163
2025 · state payroll
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, later returning to the same facility in 2015. He subsequently held a series of roles — including social services program manager, correctional assistant superintendent, and superintendent — before ascending to facility-leadership positions. As a warden or superintendent, Jones oversaw Rutledge State Prison (2020–2021), Phillips State Prison (2022–2023), and Augusta State Medical Prison (2024–present). GPS records show that 145 deaths are attributed to facilities during his tenure as a facility lead: 6 at Rutledge, 14 at Phillips, and 125 at Augusta. Multiple pending federal lawsuits name Jones as a defendant in connection with conditions at those facilities, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has documented systemic violence, understaffing, and cover-ups across the GDC, with several lethal incidents occurring on his watch.What happened on their watch
Rutledge State Prison (2020–2021)
As Correctional Superintendent in 2020 and Warden 1 in 2021, Jones was the facility lead when 6 deaths were recorded at Rutledge. Among the decedents in the sample, Richard Hatcher, Terry Wayne Williams, James Eric Mitchell, Andrew Phillip Campbell, and Harold Edward Brown died of unclassified causes (category 6). One death, that of Curtis Mincey on July 22, 2021, was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso, and extremities, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigation. A lawsuit filed by Mincey’s sister alleged that he suffered from mental illness but did not receive appropriate medical or psychological assistance, per the AJC. During this period, the AJC also reported that Sergeant Erika Shonquandria Hall at Rutledge admitted to running a contraband scheme, providing prisoners with cellphones, chargers, tobacco, and food in exchange for money.Phillips State Prison (2022–2023)
Jones served as Warden 1 in 2022 and Warden 2 in 2023 at Phillips, where GPS records attribute 14 deaths. The sampled deaths include a string of homicides: Jamal Cymonne Johnson (June 2022, stab wounds to head), Sidney Neally (July 2022, stab wounds to torso), Jacob Daniels (August 2022, stab wound to neck, shoulder, and arm), Quafabian Melik McBride (September 2022, stab wound to chest), Alim Racheed Lovett (December 2022, stab wounds of the back), and Arthur Wimbush (April 2023, blunt force trauma with fracture of thyroid cartilage). The AJC reported that officers allegedly arranged for McBride to be brought to the lockdown unit on the day he was killed in a gang-related stabbing. Additionally, the news outlet described how Dave Stone was assaulted while in a mental health ward, apparently with two pipes wrapped in a cloth, resulting in brain death. Unclassified category-6 deaths in the sample include those of Larry W. Mincey, John Lamar Garmon, Allen Lee Hollie, Chiman L. Rai, Joseph Ray Morrison, Ronald Barry Wayne, James Arthur Smith, and Eugene Michael Henry. Allegations from the AJC further highlighted that a prisoner with a violent history of strangulation was moved into a cell, leading to a murder, and that systemic corruption and understaffing plagued the GDC during these years.Augusta State Medical Prison (2024–present)
Jones’s tenure at Augusta State Medical Prison began with the title Warden 3 in January 2024, transitioning to Warden and later Warden 3 again through 2025 and into the current year. GPS records attribute 125 deaths to this facility under his leadership. The sampled deaths — a capped, most-recent subset — reflect a high volume of unclassified (category 6) fatalities, as well as notable homicides, suicides, and natural-causes deaths. Among the homicides: Jerry Wayne Merritt (Jan. 2026, stabbed by a fellow prisoner over a commissary debt, per GPS relay reports), Kendius Hill (Jan. 2025, homicidal anoxic brain injury and septic shock), and the May 2026 homicide of an individual surnamed Kamiche in the D2 unit, according to GPS Telegram relay sources. Rodarick Lee Hayes (May 2024) was the subject of an AJC and DOJ finding that he had been attacked on multiple occasions before his death, and a correctional officer is accused of aiding the attack. Another decedent, Tristin Trimm (April 2026), died of unclassified cause. Stephen Prochaska (Jan. 2025) died by suicide via hanging. Natural-causes deaths include Sidney Dorsey (March 2026, age 86).The AJC documented broader allegations at the facility, including that a prisoner with a violent history of strangulation was placed in another’s cell, leading to murder; that Thomas Henry Giles was left for hours in a smoke-filled cell (though this death predates Jones’s tenure); and that the GDC has suppressed information about prison deaths. In 2026, a federal judge scolded GDC leadership for ignoring court orders, and the DOJ previously described a culture of indifference enabling horrific violence. The state settled Giles’s death case for $5 million in 2025.
Litigation
- Graham v. Jones (1:24-cv-05022, GAND, filed Nov. 1, 2024) — pending.
- Ryhme v. Georgia Department of Corrections (1:24-cv-04156, GAND, filed Sep. 16, 2024) — pending; names Jones as a defendant.
- Emery v. Holt (1:24-cv-03486, GAND, filed Aug. 6, 2024) — pending; names Jones.
- Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections (1:23-cv-05578, GAND, filed Dec. 6, 2023) — pending; names Jones.
- Leaphart v. Jones (1:23-cv-02227, GAND, filed May 17, 2023, terminated Mar. 28, 2024) — outcome not disclosed.
- Williams v. Jones (1:25-cv-05570, GAND, filed Sep. 29, 2025) — pending.
- Keys v. Jones (1:25-cv-00570, GAND, filed Feb. 6, 2025) — pending.
- Morgan v. Oliver (1:25-cv-01700, GAND, filed Mar. 31, 2025) — pending; Jones is a listed defendant.
- Naji v. Jones (1:25-cv-07468, GAND, filed Dec. 31, 2025) — pending.
Sources
- GPS intelligence records — death count and per-facility totals; sampled decedent list and incident relay reports from Augusta, Phillips, and Rutledge.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigative articles on Georgia prison homicides, DOJ findings, settlement of Giles death, contraband ring at Rutledge, and allegations of staff involvement in attacks.
- CourtListener (dockets) — federal civil rights lawsuits naming Jones as a defendant.
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-07468 | GAND | 2025-12-31 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-05570 | GAND | 2025-09-29 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-01700 | GAND | 2025-03-31 | pending |
| 1:25-cv-00570 | GAND | 2025-02-06 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-05022 | GAND | 2024-11-01 | 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 |
| 1:20-md-02974 | GAND | 2020-12-16 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
145 people died at facilities under Jones, Deshawn B's leadership.
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.