Kennedy, Ashley L

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

The first death attributed to Kennedy’s tenure was that of Donquerius Lamonte Mahone, a 37‑year‑old man who died on February 4, 2024. The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s homicide investigation lists his cause of death as homicide. Less than a week later, on February 9, 2024, Ginel Antoine Gray, 31, died; his cause category is pending.

The most notorious incident occurred on June 16, 2024, when inmate Jaydrekus Cartez Hart, 34, used a firearm — which investigators later alleged had been smuggled in by drone, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting — to shoot and kill Aramark food service employee Aureon Shavea Grace in the prison kitchen. Hart then shot himself and died at a hospital. The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution reported that prison staff had been warned that a gun was on the premises but did not initiate a lockdown or conduct an extensive search. Hart’s death is included in the ten deaths, recorded under cause category pending.

Later that year, on September 7, 2024, Richard Jermine Williams, 43, died by suicide by hanging, per cause and manner data obtained by GPS through a GBI Medical Examiner open records production. On September 13, 2024, Orlando Jordan, 36, died (cause pending), and on December 14, 2024, Calvin Bernard Craft, 34, died (cause pending).

In 2025, the only death recorded during Kennedy’s tenure was that of John Jacobs, 77, who died on October 25 at East Georgia Regional Medical Center. A Tattnall County deputy coroner’s record obtained by GPS states that Jacobs succumbed to cardiorespiratory arrest from sepsis with multi‑organ failure following complications from peptic ulcer disease; the manner was natural.

Three deaths occurred in early 2026 while Kennedy still held the deputy warden position. Nicholas Shafer, 24, died on February 8, 2026. Notes in the GPS database state that he had been beaten, his hands and feet were tied, and an object was stuffed in his mouth; cause category 3 (homicide) is listed. Dwayne Eric Albritton, 65, died on March 12, 2026 (cause category 8, other/pending). Dreeonnie Lee Hart, 25, died on May 14, 2026 (cause category 6, pending).

Throughout Kennedy’s tenure, the prison was engulfed by a broader corruption scandal. In January 2026, Warden Brian Adams was arrested and later indicted on multiple felony counts — including violation of Georgia’s RICO Act, bribery, and making false statements — for his alleged role in a contraband ring known as the “Saint Laurent Squad” that smuggled cell phones, narcotics, and weapons into the facility. The Georgia Virtue reported that a civil suit alleged Adams and a corrections officer facilitated a criminal conspiracy that led to a murder. While Kennedy is not named in any of these public allegations, the leadership breakdown occurred during their time as second‑in‑command. The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution also documented that the prison operated with about two‑thirds of correctional officer positions unfilled, a staffing crisis that the Marshall Project linked to a failure to detect a decomposing body for five days and to incarcerated people going without medical care and recreation.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — homicide investigation and multiple reports on understaffing, gun smuggling, and the contraband scheme at Smith State Prison
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — testimony on drone smuggling of the firearm used in the June 2024 murder‑suicide
• The Georgia Virtue — coverage of the warden’s indictment, civil lawsuit, and RICO allegations
• The Marshall Project — national reporting on understaffing and its consequences in Georgia prisons
• GBI Medical Examiner production (obtained by GPS open records) — cause/manner for Richard Jermine Williams
• Tattnall County Deputy Coroner record (obtained by GPS) — cause of death for John Jacobs
• GPS intelligence database — death records, personnel positions, and incident logs for Smith State Prison

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 9, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.