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Kaigler, Briana
Status: active
Profile written August 9, 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
Briana Kaigler began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a behavioral health counselor, holding that role from 2017 through 2021. In 2022, she was promoted to deputy warden at Coastal State Prison, a position GPS records show she held through at least 2025, with attributed deaths continuing into 2026. During her leadership tenure at Coastal, GPS records attribute 95 deaths at the facility to her watch. While most of those deaths appear to be from natural causes, several were homicides, and the period was marked by a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation condemning unconstitutional conditions, a 2026 health inspection that uncovered severe sanitation failures, and allegations from workers and inmates of a “human rights crisis.” The state of Georgia paid at least $608,000 in liability settlements for two deaths that occurred at Coastal during her tenure.What happened on their watch
Kaigler served as deputy warden at Coastal State Prison beginning in 2022, and the death records linked to her watch extend through at least June 2026. According to GPS data, 95 people died at the facility during that period. Many were older prisoners whose deaths were attributed to illness; for example, per the Georgia Department of Corrections’ official mortality report for January 2025, Lloyd Chapman died of acute respiratory failure and Ricky Chamblee died of acute respiratory failure with hypoxia, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the records also include multiple homicides. On October 20, 2023, Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43, died in what GDC classified as an apparent homicide, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ryan Chase Archer, 25, was stabbed to death in December 2023, just months before he was due for release. In February 2026 alone, GPS logged five deaths; among them, Aiden Snapp, 21, was brutally beaten and died of massive head injuries and internal bleeding, per a GPS user report, and Anteveis Brown, 49, was killed in a dorm altercation, with another prisoner reporting that “the whole dorm kill him.” On April 16, 2024, Raymond Littles, 49, was killed in a homicide that led to another prisoner being disciplined. The majority of the 95 deaths are assigned a cause category of “6” in GPS records, which does not denote homicide.Concurrent with Kaigler’s tenure, Coastal State Prison was the subject of severe allegations and official findings. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluded that Georgia prisons, including Coastal, were failing to protect incarcerated people from violence and neglect, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In February 2026, WTOC reported that workers and inmates described a human rights crisis: correctional officers allegedly beat prisoners routinely, food was withheld as punishment, lockdowns lasted up to ten days without shower access, and the facility was plagued by black mold, rodent infestations, and failing infrastructure. A Georgia Department of Public Health inspection in April 2026 gave the kitchen a score of 70, citing live roaches, a dead mouse floating in backed-up mop water, mold-like growth on ceiling tiles, improper food temperatures, and broken plumbing. Maintenance records obtained by WTOC showed that over $5,000 was spent on pest control from May to November 2025, but GDC said it had no records related to mold remediation. In May 2026, an inmate reported that the kitchen was closed for “debugging” (fumigation), that meals were meager and sometimes ran out, and that commissary access was limited, stating, “this is causing issues.” Separately, a lawsuit filed in 2025 alleged that five prisoners stabbed Kion E. Parks to death at Coastal in 2021, and another lawsuit alleged that a broken cell lock allowed assailants from other cells to kill Rufus Ramon Lee.
Sources
- GPS records — position history, death tallies, and individual mortality records for Coastal State Prison.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reported on the homicide of Salomon Andres Ramirez and published a list of Georgia prison homicides.
- Georgia Department of Corrections official mortality report (January 2025) — provided natural-cause death details for Lloyd Chapman and Ricky Chamblee.
- WTOC (February 2026) — investigation into worker and inmate reports of beatings, food withholding, lockdowns, and infrastructure failures at Coastal State Prison.
- The Georgia Virtue (April 2026) — published findings from the Georgia Department of Public Health kitchen inspection at Coastal State Prison.
- U.S. Department of Justice (2024) — investigation finding unconstitutional conditions in Georgia prisons, including Coastal.
- Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — recorded a $600,000 payout for the 2022 death of Dennis Carpenter and an $8,000 payout for the 2023 incident involving Ronald Ray Agan, both at Coastal State Prison.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2017-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
95 people died at facilities under Kaigler, Briana's leadership.
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