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Kelley, Tina
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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
Tina Kelley began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2003 as a correctional officer at Smith State Prison, returning to the same facility in the same role in 2015. After working as a behavioral health counselor at various locations — including a stint at Georgia State Prison — she was promoted to Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Rogers State Prison on September 16, 2024, and advanced to Deputy Warden in 2025. During her tenure in these facility-deputy leadership roles at Rogers, GPS records attribute five deaths inside the prison to her watch. One federal lawsuit, Daker v. Bryson, named Kelley as a defendant while she held a clinical staff position in 2016; the case was terminated the following year with no recorded monetary outcome.What happened on their watch
Rogers State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment / Deputy Warden (September 2024 – present) Five deaths are attributed to Kelley’s leadership tenure at Rogers State Prison. The first occurred just twelve days after she assumed the deputy warden role: on September 28, 2024, 29-year-old Taylor Anthony Hunt died. A GBI Medical Examiner’s autopsy, peer-reviewed in February 2025, determined the cause of death as hanging and the manner as suicide. However, multiple GPS intel entries note that physical evidence — ligature marks, broken bones, bruises, and puncture and stab wounds — allegedly contradicted the suicide finding, leading to external assertions that the death was suspicious.On February 4, 2025, David Edward Wood died. The coroner’s record lists the cause as coronary atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, complicated by Influenza A and parainfluenza virus infection; the manner was natural. Justin Waymon Hollingsworth, 43, died by suicide via hanging in his cell on June 26, 2025, according to a GBI autopsy and coroner narrative. Randy Eugene Stewart, 60, died on July 17, 2025, at a Savannah hospital after a two-day admission; the certified cause was E. coli peritonitis from a perforated duodenum, with contributing conditions of diabetes, hypertension, cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis C — a natural death. GPS records further list John Meeks, 49, as dying at Rogers on February 19, 2026, during Kelley’s tenure; no cause-of-death details are recorded in the provided data.
Beyond the fatalities, intel reports document allegations of systemic issues at Rogers during this period. A guard stabbing incident was alleged at the prison, and an intel report claims that an inmate was held in segregation under conditions of denied food, phone access, and emergency-contact registration. These reports, while not adjudicated, point to operational stressors overlapping Kelley’s time in leadership.
Litigation
- Daker v. Bryson — Case No. 5:16-cv-00538, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Filed December 7, 2016, terminated June 9, 2017. Kelley was named as a defendant in her capacity as a GDC employee during her behavioral health counselor tenure. No settlement or damages are recorded. (Source: Court Listener)
Sources
- GPS personnel records and death-attribution database (positions, deaths by facility, decedent listings)
- GBI Medical Examiner autopsy report for Taylor Hunt (DOFS Case 2024-6006054) — held in GPS case files
- Tattnall County Coroner records for Randy E. Stewart (Case 2025-054), Justin W. Hollingsworth (Case 2025-043), and David E. Wood (Case 2025-010) — obtained via GPS document load
- GPS intel reports: allegations of suspicious circumstances in Hunt death, guard stabbing at Rogers State Prison, and inmate segregation conditions
- WTOC — report on guard stabbing incident at Rogers State Prison (cited in intel record)
- Court Listener — Daker v. Bryson docket and disposition
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2024-09-16 → present |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2024-01-01 → 2024-09-15 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | EMANUEL WOMEN’S FACILITY | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | MONTGOMERY STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER( AL) | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2003-01-01 → 2003-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:22-cv-00030 | GASD | 2022-04-04 | terminated |
| 5:16-cv-00538 | GAMD | 2016-12-07 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
5 people died at facilities under Kelley, Tina's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-19 | JOHN MEEKS | 49 | ROGERS STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2025-07-17 | RANDY EUGENE STEWART | 60 | ROGERS STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2025-06-26 | JUSTIN WAYMON HOLLINGSWORTH | 43 | ROGERS STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2025-02-04 | David Edward Wood | — | ROGERS STATE PRISON | DEPUTY WARDEN |
| 2024-09-28 | TAYLOR ANTHONY HUNT | 29 | ROGERS STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment |
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