Jones, Joshua

Tenure Summary

Joshua Jones's career in Georgia corrections, per state position and salary records, began as a correctional officer at Walker State Prison in 2007. He next appears at Hays State Prison as a sergeant (2013) and a corrections officer (2015), then as CSM Correctional Lieutenant (2016) and CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2017–2019) in postings the records do not tie to a named facility, and as Deputy Warden from 2020 through 2023. On July 1, 2023, he took the Warden role at Hays State Prison, listed as facility lead there through July 4, 2026, and carried on 2024 and 2025 payroll as "Warden 3."

GPS's death registry attributes 21 deaths to his leadership tenure, all of them at Hays State Prison. Among the decedents GPS names individually, six deaths are recorded as homicides, five as natural or medical, and nine with the cause listed as unknown/pending. Three lawsuits naming Jones as a defendant appear in GPS's litigation records, two still pending. His personnel status is active; no other status is sourced in these records.

What happened on their watch

Warden, Hays State Prison — July 1, 2023 to July 4, 2026 (styled Warden 3 from November 2023 onward)

The first deaths recorded under his leadership came within weeks of his start:

• Robert Millan Cook died July 17, 2023, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 57.
• Ronnie Joe Criswell died August 15, 2023, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 67.
• Randoulf Gutierrez died October 19, 2023, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 42.
• Talore Stihles Blackford died October 28, 2023, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 31.

GPS event records describe Blackford's death as resulting from multiple stab wounds to the neck. Four deaths followed in 2024's first half:

• Jeremy Edward Price died March 2, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 36.
• Theron Morrell Hendrix died April 19, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 31.
• Freddie Lee III Talley died May 6, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 31.
• Timothy Darmofal died May 22, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 58.

Event records state Price died of stab wounds to the neck and chest, confirmed as a homicide by his death certificate, and that Talley died of a stab wound to the chest in an incident report recording a murder involving four other prisoners and sharpened weapons measuring 10.5 to 22 inches; officers recovered seven weapons ranging from 9 to 22 inches, and three incarcerated people received disciplinary reports but had not been charged at the time of the record. The remaining 2024 deaths:

• Keith Johnson died August 19, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 57.
• Mackendy Pierrette died September 13, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 50.
• Lawrence L Williams died October 24, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 30.
• Thomas Johnson died October 24, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 82.
• Joey Griffin died December 26, 2024, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 54.

And in 2025–2026:

• Ralph Carter died March 5, 2025, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 39.
• Tommy Joe Strickland died June 4, 2025, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 60.
• Raymont Savion Farley died June 15, 2025, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 36.
• James Cannon died October 25, 2025, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 48.
• Barcel Roylee Ward died November 28, 2025, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 39.
• Melvin Gay Johnson died January 27, 2026, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 35.
• Corey Anwar Dubose died March 23, 2026, at Hays State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 47.

Event records describing the January 2026 attack state Johnson was beaten in a dorm, that he had been returned there despite safety concerns raised, and that he died on life support.

Other records dated inside this tenure and tied to his Warden 3 role: an April 1, 2026 incident entry states a high-ranking ROLACC Blood leader was stabbed multiple times in the neck during an official inspection at Hays and required CPR; inmate and witness reports dated April 1, April 5 and June 10, 2026 describe stabbings on the compound, one prompting retaliatory activity and another requiring transport of two people to a hospital. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution report dated January 28, 2026 describes Lieutenant Lakeshia Thomas arranging to smuggle marijuana for Gangster Disciples member Jarico Deshun Brown; an event entry states GBI uncovered the evidence in 2019, that she pleaded guilty in April 2022 and received 15 years with two to serve. A March 31, 2025 AJC report alleges a former Hays guard smuggled methamphetamine and other contraband to inmates for over a month, and a federal sentencing announcement is dated February 10, 2025. In a January 21, 2025 AJC report, Tammy Price alleges GDC conceals its inability to protect prisoners by omitting manner-of-death information from mortality reports. State records dated January 7, 2025 announce a $600 million prison spending surge including four 126-bed "hardened" modules, the first under construction at Hays, and an October 19, 2025 entry announces a $24 million hardened unit at Hays. A public Facebook comment by a family member, linked to Jones in GPS's news index, reports that in 2024 a warden at Hays intervened over months to keep a man on strip-cell status alive during a mental-health crisis. A funeral-home death notice dated July 2026, also linked to this record, states the warden of Hays State Prison died unexpectedly that year; that notice does not name Jones, whose position record lists him as Warden through July 4, 2026.

Litigation

• White v. Jones, No. 4:26-cv-00017 (court listed as GAND), filed January 14, 2026 — pending, no outcome amount recorded.
• Daker v. Jones, No. 4:24-cv-00173 (GAND), filed July 15, 2024 — pending, no outcome amount recorded.
• Vaquera v. Sprayberry, No. 4:22-cv-00089 (GAND), filed April 13, 2022 — listed in GPS's litigation records as a suit naming Jones as a defendant; the caption names Sprayberry. Terminated February 5, 2024; no outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reports on contraband smuggling at Hays State Prison (March 31, 2025), on mortality-reporting allegations by Tammy Price (January 21, 2025), and on the Lakeshia Thomas smuggling case (January 28, 2026)
• GPS intake and event records — cause and circumstance entries for named decedents, stabbing and assault reports at Hays State Prison, and records of the ROLACC Blood stabbing and the Talley and Price homicide investigations
• Court records via CourtListener dockets — White v. Jones, Daker v. Jones, Vaquera v. Sprayberry
• Georgia Department of Corrections position and salary records — Jones's 2007–2025 postings
• Federal sentencing announcement as recorded — former Hays guard, February 10, 2025
• Public Facebook comment, Georgia prison family group, 2024 account (linked to Jones, not naming him)
• Published funeral-home death notice, July 2026 (linked to this record, not naming Jones)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.