Kaigler, Briana

Tenure Summary

Briana Kaigler's Georgia Department of Corrections career began in behavioral health: Behavioral Health Counselor 2 (2017, 2018), 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, a role the position records show her holding across 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, with a further dated Deputy Warden record on November 22, 2023. From July 16, 2026 she is recorded as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Coastal State Prison, with an additional dated Deputy Warden record on August 27, 2026. She is listed as active.

GPS's death registry attributes 82 deaths to Kaigler's leadership tenures, all of them at Coastal State Prison. No lawsuit in the records names her as a defendant, and no news report in the records names her directly. The facility where she held deputy leadership posts was the subject of a 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found Georgia prisons, Coastal State Prison among them, were failing to protect people in custody from violence and neglect and that the Georgia Department of Corrections violates the Eighth Amendment, per the DOJ findings. Two state liability payouts tied to Coastal State Prison appear in the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger: $600,000 linked to a documented death record from a 2022 incident, and $8,000 from a 2023 incident.

What happened on their watch

Coastal State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2022–2025. Deaths recorded at Coastal while Kaigler held the Deputy Warden role include Travis Akeem Coleman, 31 (January 31, 2022); Naquan Maruse Brandt, 34 (March 26, 2022); Dennis Stephen Carpenter, 40 (June 1, 2022); Joshua Bobby Johnson, 28 (June 28, 2022); Maurice Terrell Jenkins, 38 (April 19, 2023); Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43 (October 20, 2023); Ryan Chase Archer, 25 (December 13, 2023); Jonathan Antwain Belote, 33 (January 25, 2024); and Raymond Littles, 49 (April 16, 2024). GDC classified Littles's death as a homicide, with another prisoner disciplined; a death certificate was not yet available. GDC classified Ramirez's death as an apparent homicide, cause not stated. Archer died of a stab wound to the chest after a fight with other prisoners; he was due for release in 2024.

The Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (obtained under open records) records a $600,000 state liability payout tied to Coastal State Prison over a 2022 incident involving Dennis Carpenter, linked to a documented death record, and an $8,000 payout over a 2023 incident involving Ronald Ray Agan. WTOC Investigates obtained maintenance records from Coastal State Prison for May to November 2025 showing over $5,000 spent on pest control; the Department of Corrections said it had no records related to mold remediation.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on January 21, 2025 — while Kaigler held the Deputy Warden role — on two lawsuits: one filed by Rufus Ramon Lee's mother alleging that the lock on his cell didn't work, allowing assailants from other cells and dorms to reach and kill him; the other alleging that five inmates stabbed Kion E. Parks to death at Coastal State Prison, a death the records date to September 14, 2021. On October 21, 2025, five inmates at Coastal State Prison were indicted for a violent assault, per the records.

Coastal State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment, from July 16, 2026. Phillip Alexander George, 66, died July 16, 2026; the registry lists Unknown/Pending. Sheldon Leroy Burns died August 30, 2026; the registry lists Natural/Medical. Two public Facebook posts by formerly incarcerated people, dated August 31 and September 5, 2026, describe conditions at Coastal State Prison between 2021 and 2026 — one reporting four deaths witnessed along with beatings, restraints and torture, a stabbing eleven times and a broken jaw, and CERT members and correctional officers present during at least one life-threatening incident without effective intervention; the other reporting that accurate counts were rare and describing witnessed killings, sexual assault, humiliation, restraint for days, burning, and being stabbed, beaten by a correctional response team and thrown down stairs. Both are witness claims, not adjudicated findings.

Deaths named in GPS's death registry during Kaigler's tenure at Coastal State Prison:

• 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; age 66; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• James Dion Gilmore died December 26, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 46; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Thomas Jacob Johnson died December 23, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 57; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Jeffrey Brandon Deaton died December 20, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Nelson Nmn Williams died December 4, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 54; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• James Joseph Reinke died November 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 66; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Thomas Floyd East died November 18, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 71; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Christopher Eugene Smith died November 18, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 53; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Eric Milton Bone died November 7, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 61; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Jerry Lewis Manley died November 6, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 68; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Ernest Denson died October 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 62; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Randall Clark Morris died September 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 53; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Steven Lee Waldemer died September 26, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 69; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Cecil Sylvester Henderson died September 26, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 91; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Jimmy Swanson died September 18, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 70; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Mark Anthony Hill died August 12, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 62; registry cause Natural/Medical.
• Michael Kendrick died July 29, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 51; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Terrion Survine Wilson died June 20, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 63; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Timothy Jones died June 14, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 51; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Ronnie Bazemore died June 11, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 55; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Audrey Bruce Swanson died June 11, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 71; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Randall Troy Harris died June 7, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 71; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Jason Edward Vogan died June 4, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 54; registry cause Unknown/Pending.
• Gregory Lee Ratcliff died February 17, 2025, at Coastal State Prison; age 54; registry cause Unknown/Pending.

Sources

• GPS death registry (gps.press) — 82 deaths attributed to Kaigler's leadership tenures, all at Coastal State Prison; named decedents, dates and cause classifications.
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — $600,000 payout tied to a 2022 Coastal State Prison incident involving Dennis Carpenter; $8,000 payout tied to a 2023 incident involving Ronald Ray Agan.
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 investigation into Georgia prison conditions, including Coastal State Prison.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — January 21, 2025 reporting on lawsuits over the deaths of Rufus Ramon Lee and Kion E. Parks at Coastal State Prison.
• WTOC Investigates — Coastal State Prison maintenance records, May to November 2025, pest control spending and mold remediation records.
• Facebook public posts — witness accounts published August 31, 2026 and September 5, 2026 by formerly incarcerated people describing conditions at Coastal State Prison, 2021–2026.

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.