Kellom, Jimmy J

Tenure Summary

Jimmy J. Kellom appears in GDC salary records as a correctional officer at Wilcox State Prison in 2005 and again from 2015, rising to correctional sergeant at Wilcox by 2019. Records then show a transfer to Telfair State Prison, where he held CSM correctional lieutenant (2022), captain (2023) and unit manager (2024–2025) posts, before returning to Wilcox on May 1, 2026 as Deputy Warden of Security — the only facility-deputy-tier position in his file, and the role in force when GPS attributes two deaths to his leadership tenure.

GPS attributes 2 deaths to Kellom's leadership tenure, both at Wilcox State Prison: Gary Dwayne Felver, 65 (June 15, 2026), and Maurice Antonio Brown (Sept. 3, 2026). Both death records list his role at the time as Deputy Warden of Security. No lawsuit naming Kellom as a defendant appears in the records.

What happened on their watch

Telfair State Prison — lieutenant (2022), captain (2023), unit manager (2024–2025). GPS attributes no deaths to these unit-supervisor postings, and no death record in the file lists a Telfair role for Kellom. The period nonetheless overlapped with documented violence and staffing collapse at the facility. AJC reporting cited in GPS records states Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce — 36 correctional officers supervising 1,400 prisoners — and that as of March it had 79% of correctional officer positions unfilled, 32 officers against a stated requirement of at least 153. Facility-level deaths documented in that window include De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd (stab wound to the neck, April 18, 2023), Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano (July 20, 2023), Kwesi Jamal Stultz (Dec. 22, 2023), Joey Lebron Kilgore (Feb. 29, 2024), Lamar Wilson (June 1, 2024), Zoumana Madiou Sarre (July 5, 2024), Henry Crump (Sept. 2, 2024), Eric Whitehead (Sept. 18, 2024), Aaron Smith (Jan. 5, 2025) and Preston Cato Phelps (Dec. 13, 2025). Those are GDC- and news-reported facility deaths, not deaths GPS attributes to Kellom.

Ramirez Bibiano, 27, died after officers placed him in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot fenced outdoor cage with no shade while the heat index reached about 105°F; he was left roughly five hours and reached the hospital with an internal temperature of 107°F. His family reached a $3.2 million settlement with the State of Georgia, reported June 29, 2026 by 13WMAZ; the GA DOAS Risk Management ledger lists a $3,249,873 payout tied to Telfair. A 13WMAZ account alleges an officer responded "if he dies, he dies" when the inmate pleaded for help. In Floyd's case, a claim filed against the state alleged he was stabbed by several prisoners at a time when no prison staff were present in the dorm, per the AJC. AJC reporting also cites a U.S. Department of Justice report finding Georgia's gang-run prisons riddled with regular violence and sexual assault, and describes hundreds of GDC employees arrested or fired for smuggling contraband.

Wilcox State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security (from May 1, 2026). Both attributed deaths fall in this posting. Felver, 65, died June 15, 2026; GPS records list a cause category but state no cause of death. Brown was killed in a Sept. 3, 2026 fight that GDC described to the press as gang-related (13WMAZ, 41NBC); seven inmates were taken to hospitals, two by airlift, and two others were treated on site, with no staff injured. Wilcox was placed on lockdown the next day, and the death is under investigation by the GDC Office of Professional Standards, with the body sent to the GBI Crime Lab for an official cause of death. Separately, an unverified public Facebook post (author unknown, May 12, 2026) alleges Wilcox locks down inmate movement for on-clock senior-staff gatherings and that basic supply issuance has lapsed roughly a year; the post also speculates about inmate benefit fund spending.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide tracking and investigations coverage of Telfair and Wilcox deaths, staffing figures, contraband-smuggling reporting, DOJ findings.
• 13WMAZ — Telfair heat-cage death, $3.2M settlement, and officer's alleged remark; Wilcox death confirmation.
• 41NBC — confirmation of the Brown death (per GPS record note).
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Telfair and Wilcox liability payouts.
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — investigations of deaths at Telfair and Wilcox.
• Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab — autopsy referrals.
• U.S. Department of Justice report on gang-run Georgia prisons (as described by the AJC).
• Solitary Watch — 2010 allegations at Telfair State Prison.
• Yahoo.com — bomb-threat allegation involving a Telfair inmate.
• Public Facebook post, author unknown — Wilcox allegations, May 12, 2026.
• GPS case records (case 233; death report ref. GPS-260904-C69C42).

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.