Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Keith, Tonja T
Keith, Tonja T
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
Tonja T. Keith began her Georgia Department of Corrections career as a Unit Manager in 2018, then moved into the deputy warden role at Telfair State Prison the following year. GPS employment records show she has held that facility-deputy post continuously from 2019 through at least 2025. During her tenure as deputy warden, GPS records attribute 57 inmate deaths to the facility. Keith was named as a defendant in four federal civil-rights lawsuits filed in the Southern District of Georgia between 2022 and 2023; all were terminated. The body count at Telfair under her watch includes homicides, suicides, drug overdoses, a heat-exposure death that led to a $3.2 million state settlement, and a death that advocates classify as medical neglect.What happened on their watch
Keith’s entire facility-leadership tenure has been at Telfair State Prison, where she has served as deputy warden since January 2019. GPS data shows 57 people died at the prison during that period. The deaths run the spectrum of custodial mortality. At least 15 were homicides by stabbing, strangulation, or blunt-force trauma, documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s prison-homicides investigation and by Telfair County coroner records. Among them: De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd (exsanguination from a neck wound in April 2023; a claim filed against the state alleged he was attacked by several prisoners while no staff were present in the dorm), Eric Leigh Whitehead (blunt-force trauma with strangulation in September 2024), and Preston C. Phelps (killed during a gang fight in December 2025).One death in July 2023 drew widespread news coverage and a major settlement. Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, was placed in an outdoor recreation cage with no shade while the heat index reached roughly 105°F. He repeatedly told guards he was overheating and having trouble breathing; according to a family lawsuit reported by 13WMAZ, an officer allegedly responded, “if he dies, he dies.” Ramirez Bibiano arrived at a hospital with an internal body temperature of 107°F. GPS’s intelligence records show that the family’s wrongful-death claim settled with the State of Georgia for $3.2 million in 2026.
Other deaths highlight what witnesses and experts describe as breakdowns in medical care and supervision. William H. Lumpkin, 74, complained of chest pain before his death in August 2021; family and friends told GPS that medical staff refused to evaluate him. GPS categorizes the death as medical neglect, noting that a coroner later ruled it natural. Overdose deaths linked to methamphetamine or synthetic cannabinoids also appear on the record—including Robert Messer, 63, who died from acute intoxication by the synthetic drug MDMB-4en-PINACA in 2025, and Clifford Bagley in 2023. Suicides by hanging were recorded in 2022 and 2024.
The violence and deaths occurred against a backdrop of severe understaffing and contraband trafficking. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that by early 2024, Telfair had only 32 correctional officers for a facility that requires at least 153—a 79% vacancy rate. In 2023, Sergeant Desiree Briley was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting she had helped an inmate smuggle methamphetamine into the prison for years. GPS intelligence records also note a federal prosecution, Operation Ghost Busted, that targeted a Ghost Face Gangsters drug network with reach inside Telfair.
Litigation
- Mckinney v. White, 3:22-cv-00062 (S.D. Ga., filed June 13, 2022; terminated Sept. 8, 2022). No publicly reported settlement amount.
- Hall v. Mcfarlane, 3:23-cv-00094 (S.D. Ga., filed Nov. 29, 2023; terminated Mar. 4, 2024). No publicly reported settlement amount.
- Powell v. White, 3:23-cv-00096 (S.D. Ga., filed Dec. 4, 2023; terminated Mar. 28, 2024). No publicly reported settlement amount.
- Thomas v. White, 3:23-cv-00100 (S.D. Ga., filed Dec. 21, 2023; terminated Feb. 23, 2024). No publicly reported settlement amount.
Sources
- GPS personnel records (position history, facility assignments)
- GPS death records, including Telfair County Coroner certificates and GDC monthly mortality reports
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (multiple deaths at Telfair SP) and reporting on staffing vacancies, contraband arrests
- 13WMAZ — coverage of the Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano heat-exposure death and $3.2 million settlement, including the officer’s alleged statement
- Federal court dockets via CourtListener (Mckinney, Hall, Powell, Thomas suits in the Southern District of Georgia)
- GPS intelligence reports (Operation Ghost Busted, Desiree Briley sentencing, staffing statistics)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:23-cv-00100 | GASD | 2023-12-21 | terminated |
| 3:23-cv-00096 | GASD | 2023-12-04 | terminated |
| 3:23-cv-00094 | GASD | 2023-11-29 | terminated |
| 3:22-cv-00062 | GASD | 2022-06-13 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
57 people died at facilities under Keith, Tonja T's leadership.
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.