Keith, Tonja T

Tenure Summary

Tonja T. Keith has served as Deputy Warden at Telfair State Prison continuously from 2019 through at least 2025, making her one of the longest-tenured facility-deputy leaders in the GPS dataset for that institution. Prior to that posting, GPS records show she held a Correctional Unit Manager role in 2018 at an unspecified facility. During her tenure as Deputy Warden at Telfair, GPS records attribute 57 deaths to the facility — spanning homicides, deaths of unknown or pending cause, natural causes, suicide, overdose, and at least one heat-related death. Four federal civil suits were filed naming her as a defendant between 2022 and 2023, all since terminated. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported on multiple homicides at Telfair during this period, and the AJC separately documented that the facility was operating with as few as 32–36 correctional officers against a required complement of 153, a vacancy rate of 76–79 percent.

What Happened on Their Watch

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2019–present

Keith has held the Deputy Warden role at Telfair State Prison for every year covered by GPS records from 2019 through 2025. Over that span, GPS records attribute 57 deaths at the facility during her tenure. The breakdown by cause category includes at least 16 confirmed or alleged homicides, the majority by stabbing; multiple deaths of unknown or pending cause; at least two natural-cause deaths; one confirmed suicide by hanging (Robert Baker, October 2025, per Telfair County Coroner records); one suspected overdose (Tony Morales Adame, 32, June 2025); and one death classified as other/environmental. The homicide toll documented by the AJC's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation includes: Cedric Johnson (strangulation, March 2020), Marcus Pearson (multiple stab wounds, May 2020), Aldrich Cain (multiple stab wounds, April 2020), Louis Garcia-Palacio (blunt impact injuries to head, July 2020), Juan Carlos Arguello-Revelles (stabbing, May 2021), Xavier Warren (stab wound to torso, December 2022), De'ahmoz Floyd (exsanguination from stab wound to neck, April 2023), Kwesi Stultz (multiple injuries to head, December 2023), Joey Kilgore (homicide, February 2024), Lamar Wilson (fight injuries, June 2024), Zoumana Sarre (multiple sharp force injuries to neck and torso, July 2024), Henry Crump (homicide per incident report, September 2024), and Eric Whitehead (fight, September 2024), per AJC reporting. Coroner records confirm additional 2025 homicides: Lester Smith (stab wound to torso, June 2025), Ezra Ford (assault/stabbing, March 2025), Malindzo Hatcher (stab wound to chest, July 2025), and Preston Phelps (stabbed in a gang fight, December 2025, per Telfair County Coroner and GDC investigation). The GDC's Office of Professional Standards opened a homicide investigation into Phelps's death, per GPS intel records.

A death that drew particular attention was that of Juan Carlos Ramirez, 27, on July 20, 2023: GPS records document that officers left him in an outdoor recreation cage for five hours during a heat index of 105°F; he arrived at the hospital with an internal body temperature of 107°F and died. GDC reported his death as natural causes.

A claim filed against the state, as reported by the AJC, alleged that De'ahmoz Floyd was stabbed by multiple prisoners at a time when no staff were present in the dorm, and that Floyd had previously been targeted after renouncing his gang affiliation. A separate AJC investigation documented that a Telfair sergeant, Desiree Briley, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping a prisoner smuggle methamphetamine into the facility for at least two years — an operation the AJC linked to the Ghost Face Gangsters network. The AJC has also reported that Telfair was operating with 76–79 percent of its correctional officer positions unfilled, leaving as few as 32 officers supervising approximately 1,400 prisoners. GPS intel records include unattributed Telegram-sourced reports of a stabbing lockdown (April 2026), a post-lockdown fight involving groups from Hancock (March 2026), and an inmate having a finger severed by another inmate in an adjacent unit (March 2026). In 2021, per GPS intel records, Democratic state legislators including Sen. Josh McLaurin were turned away when they arrived unannounced to tour the facility.

Litigation

• McKinney v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00062 (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ga.), filed June 13, 2022; terminated September 8, 2022. Keith named as defendant. No settlement amount recorded.
• Hall v. McFarlane, No. 3:23-cv-00094 (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ga.), filed November 29, 2023; terminated March 4, 2024. Keith named as defendant. No settlement amount recorded.
• Powell v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00096 (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ga.), filed December 4, 2023; terminated March 28, 2024. Keith named as defendant. No settlement amount recorded.
• Thomas v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00100 (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ga.), filed December 21, 2023; terminated February 23, 2024. Keith named as defendant. No settlement amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (multiple homicide entries, Telfair State Prison, 2020–2024)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "The hellhole that is Georgia's prison system screams for overhaul" (staffing vacancy figures, Telfair State Prison)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "Georgia prisons get $600M for overhaul" (79% vacancy rate, Telfair State Prison)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "Prisons: Inside Job" (Sgt. Desiree Briley drug trafficking conviction, Telfair State Prison)
• Telfair County Coroner Records, 2025 (cause/manner determinations for multiple decedents; GPS source: ~/Coroner-Records/2025/Telfair-2025.pdf)
• 13WMAZ, WTOC, WGXA — news reports on Preston Phelps homicide (December 2025) and Malindzo Hatcher homicide (July 2025)
• GPS records / user reports — deaths of Eric Bernard Haynes, William Hiram Lumpkin, and others
• CourtListener — dockets for McKinney v. White, Hall v. McFarlane, Powell v. White, Thomas v. White (GASD)
• Solitary Watch — December 2010 reporting on tactical officer conduct and heat shutoff at Telfair State Prison
• GPS Intel / Telegram relay — stabbing lockdown (April 2026), inter-group fight (March 2026), finger-severing incident (March 2026)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 10, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.