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Keith, Tonja T
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 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 appears in Georgia Department of Corrections records as holding a CSM Correctional Unit Manager post in 2018, with no facility listed, at a salary of $48,444.21. From 2019 through the 2025 annual records, Keith is listed as Deputy Warden at Telfair State Prison; GPS records also carry dated Deputy Warden entries for Nov. 22, 2023 and Aug. 27, 2026. Salary records rise from $49,472.88 in 2019 to $75,559.25 in 2025. GPS attributes 59 deaths to Keith’s facility-leader tenure, all at Telfair State Prison.Four federal civil cases are listed under lawsuits filed against Keith, all in the Southern District of Georgia and all terminated. The largest documented Telfair-connected payout is a State of Georgia settlement of $3,249,872.60 to the family/estate of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano for a 2023 heat-exposure death.
What happened on their watch
During Keith’s deputy warden tenure at Telfair State Prison, GPS records assign 59 deaths to the facility. The provided death-record sample spans March 2020 through July 2026, with multiple causes. Telfair County coroner records and GBI autopsy reports document homicides by stabbing, strangulation, and blunt force; suicides by hanging; accidental overdoses; natural deaths; accidental falls; and deaths whose causes remained pending in the records. Ages in the supplied records range from 21-year-old Ezra Dangelo Ford to 74-year-old William Hiram Lumpkin.Homicide examples include Cedric Johnson (strangulation, March 2020), Aldrich Cain (multiple stab wounds, April 2020), Marcus Pearson (multiple stab wounds, May 2020), Juan Carlos Arguello-Reveles (stabbing, May 2021), Xavier Warren (stab wound, December 2022), De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd (stab wound to the neck, April 2023), Kwesi Stultz (head injuries, December 2023), Zoumana Sarre (sharp-force injuries, July 2024), and Preston Phelps (stabbed during a gang fight, December 2025). The AJC reported that a state claim concerning Floyd alleged he was stabbed when no staff were present and that he had renounced gang membership, making him a target.
The most prominent death is Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, on July 20, 2023. Per event records, he was left in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot outdoor cage with no shade for about five hours while the heat index reached about 105°F, and arrived at the hospital with a body temperature of 107°F. The family’s lawsuit alleged an officer responded “if he dies, he dies,” according to 13WMAZ. GPS records show a State of Georgia liability payout of $3,249,872.60 to his family/estate; 13WMAZ reported the settlement as $3.2 million.
Other records carry unresolved discrepancies. For Robert Baker, the Telfair coroner certified hanging/suicide, but GPS notes flag that GDC’s incident report initially classified the death as undetermined, the family reported an altercation, and autopsy findings documented abrasions on both hands and knuckles. For William Lumpkin, GPS records contain a witness account that he complained of chest pain and medical staff refused to evaluate him; the coroner certified sepsis with acute pancreatitis as natural.
Broader staffing and contraband issues appear during Keith’s tenure. The AJC reported Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce, leaving 36 officers for 1,400 prisoners, and separately reported 79% officer vacancies. GPS notes also cite DOJ documentation of more than 50% officer vacancies systemwide. In 2023, Sgt. Desiree Briley was sentenced to 18 months after pleading guilty in the Ghost Face Gangsters meth-smuggling case, per the AJC. In March 2024, the warden at Telfair was stabbed by an inmate during a contraband shakedown, according to event records. The GDC Office of Professional Standards investigated the deaths of Preston Phelps (December 2025) and Timothy Wilson (June 2026), both following reported altercations.
Litigation
- Thomas v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00100 (S.D. Ga., filed Dec. 21, 2023; closed Feb. 23, 2024; terminated)
- Powell v. White, No. 3:23-cv-00096 (S.D. Ga., filed Dec. 4, 2023; closed Mar. 28, 2024; terminated)
- Hall v. Mcfarlane, No. 3:23-cv-00094 (S.D. Ga., filed Nov. 29, 2023; closed Mar. 4, 2024; terminated)
- Mckinney v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00062 (S.D. Ga., filed June 13, 2022; closed Sept. 8, 2022; terminated)
No monetary outcomes are listed for these four terminated cases.
Sources
- GPS personnel and custodial mortality records
- Telfair County Coroner records and pronouncement forms
- GBI Medical Examiner / DOFS autopsy records
- Georgia Department of Corrections incident and mortality reports
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; staffing and contraband coverage
- 13WMAZ — Ramirez heat-death settlement and alleged officer statement
- Yahoo.com — Telfair prisoner bomb-threat allegation
- GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger
- UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia dockets via CourtListener
- U.S. Department of Justice — staffing vacancy finding referenced in GPS notes
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| 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
59 people died at facilities under Keith, Tonja T's leadership.
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