Kaigler, Briana

Tenure Summary

Briana Kaigler entered Georgia Department of Corrections employment in 2017 as a Behavioral Health Counselor 2, a role she held through 2018 before advancing to Behavioral Health Counselor 3 (2019–2020) and Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor (2021). In 2022 she moved into custody leadership as Deputy Warden at Coastal State Prison. Salary records place her in that Deputy Warden post for each year 2022 through 2025, and her personnel status is listed as active.

GPS attributes 99 deaths to her leadership tenure, all of them at Coastal State Prison. No lawsuit naming Kaigler as a defendant appears in the records reviewed. Two state liability settlements are tied to the facility during her tenure: $600,000 in a 2022 incident linked to the death of Dennis Carpenter, and $8,000 in a 2023 incident tied to Ronald Ray Agan, both recorded in the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation found that Georgia prisons, Coastal State among them, were failing to protect inmates from violence, neglect and unconstitutional conditions, concluding that GDC violates the Eighth Amendment.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden, Coastal State Prison (2022–present per GPS salary and position records). The 99 deaths attributed to this posting at Coastal State span cause categories recorded as natural/medical, unknown/pending, and homicide. Among homicides recorded at the facility during her tenure: Ryan Chase Archer, 25, died December 13, 2023, from a stab wound to the chest after a fight with other prisoners, per the incident record; Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43, died October 20, 2023, in a death GDC classified as an apparent homicide; Raymond Littles, 49, died April 16, 2024, in an incident classified as a homicide with another prisoner disciplined; and Aiden Snapp, 21, and Anteveis Brown, 49, both died February 26, 2026. Also during her tenure, records dated October 21, 2025, show five inmates at Coastal State were indicted for a violent assault. WTOC Investigates obtained Coastal State maintenance records covering May to November 2025 showing more than $5,000 spent on pest control; the Department of Corrections told the outlet it had no records related to mold remediation. Two lawsuits reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on January 21, 2025 — the Rufus Ramon Lee and Kion E. Parks suits described below — were docketed while Kaigler held the Deputy Warden role; the Parks record dates his death to September 14, 2021, before her tenure began.

The registry names these people as having died during her tenure:

• Sheldon Leroy Burns died August 30, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Phillip Alexander George died July 16, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, and GPS does not yet know the cause. Age 66.
• Corey Marcel Mitchell died July 15, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, and GPS does not yet know the cause. Age 50.
• Bobby Clinton Biggs died June 25, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 77.
• Ronald Tyrone Waller died June 10, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 57.
• Rene Alvarado Salazar died April 19, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 38.
• Mark Jr Young died April 17, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 75.
• Terry Kendall died February 27, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 67.
• Stanley Brown died February 27, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 61.
• Anteveis Brown died February 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Age 49.
• Aiden Snapp died February 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. Age 21.
• Richard Parks died February 21, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 62.
• Malik Ortiz died February 12, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 29.
• Dejarvis Walker died February 9, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 25.
• Michael Garcia died February 1, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 45.
• Thomas Lee Garrison died January 26, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 78.
• Deandre Martez Walker died January 22, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 37.
• Jabe Clark died January 17, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 32.
• Kevin Lloyd Strickland died January 13, 2026, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 52.
• James Dion Gilmore died December 26, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 46.
• Thomas Jacob Johnson died December 23, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 57.
• Jeffrey Brandon Deaton died December 20, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, and GPS does not yet know the cause.
• Nelson Nmn Williams died December 4, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 54.
• James Joseph Reinke died November 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 66.
• Thomas Floyd East died November 18, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; Unknown/Pending. Age 71.

Litigation

• Estate of Rufus Ramon Lee v. (defendants not specified in GPS records) — lawsuit reported January 21, 2025, and summarized by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lee's mother alleges that the lock on his cell did not work, allowing assailants from other cells and dorms to reach and kill him. Kaigler is not listed as a defendant in the records reviewed.
• Estate of Kion E. Parks v. (defendants not specified in GPS records) — lawsuit reported January 21, 2025, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, alleging that five inmates stabbed Kion E. Parks to death at Coastal State Prison on September 14, 2021. Kaigler is not listed as a defendant in the records reviewed.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — prison homicide reporting and summaries of the Lee and Parks lawsuits, January 21, 2025
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 investigation into Georgia prison conditions, including Coastal State Prison
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — $600,000 Dennis Carpenter settlement (incident 2022) and $8,000 Ronald Ray Agan settlement (incident 2023)
• WTOC Investigates — Coastal State Prison maintenance and pest control records, May–November 2025
• GPS death registry — dates and recorded causes for deaths during Kaigler's tenure at Coastal State Prison

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 4, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.