King, Sheneca

Tenure Summary

Sheneca King has held a series of Georgia Department of Corrections posts since at least 2011. She worked as a Captain and Unit Manager at Central State Prison in 2011, 2013 and 2016–2018, held a correction administration post in 2015, then served as Deputy Warden at Dooly State Prison from 2019 through 2021. She was Deputy Warden at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison from 2022 through 2024, and again Deputy Warden of Security there in 2025. In 2025 she also held the Deputy Warden role at the Special Management Unit from January through November, and records list her as Special Assistant to the Warden at SMU beginning Dec. 1, 2025.

GPS records attribute 90 deaths during her facility-leader tenures: 76 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, 12 at Dooly State Prison, and 2 at the Special Management Unit. She is also listed as a defendant in a pending federal lawsuit, Miller v. Holt.

What happened on their watch

Central State Prison (2011, 2013, 2016–2018)

GPS records attribute no deaths to King’s Central State Prison postings.

Dooly State Prison (2019–2021)

GPS records attribute 12 deaths while King held the Deputy Warden role at Dooly. Named decedents in the record include David Hunter (Nov. 19, 2021), Charles Busbee (May 25, 2021), Luckie Odis Miller (Feb. 21, 2021), Andrew Harris (Jan. 7, 2021), James Robb Yarbrough (Aug. 14, 2020), Nathaniel Troy, Michael Terry, Glenn Whorton, Shelton Donaldson, Kenneth Hicks, Terry Mintz, and Charles Blassingame. A GDC coding dataset obtained by UCLA classified many of these deaths as natural; it coded Yarbrough’s death as undetermined. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Yarbrough’s case involved a medical malpractice allegation that he died of ketoacidosis after uncontrolled diabetes. The AJC also reported a coroner’s allegation that Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta may have been dead more than 24 hours before being found at Dooly, though the record does not specify a date for that death.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2022–2025)

GPS records attribute 76 deaths at GDCP during King’s deputy warden service there. According to the AJC Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation, Boyd Williams died on Oct. 3, 2022, from manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head; Daniel Charriez died on Feb. 23, 2022, from delayed complications of traumatic brain injury; Carrell D. Johnson died on June 6, 2023, from chopping injuries of the head and sharp-force injuries of the torso; and Elmer W. Pless died on May 15, 2023, from strangulation. GBI Medical Examiner records obtained by GPS through open records requests document suicides by hanging for Christopher Burnett (July 14, 2024), Rodriquez Garrett (Sept. 6, 2024), and Timothy Holbrook (April 8, 2024).

In another recorded dispute, Billy Joe Farmer’s March 25, 2023 death was certified suicide by the GBI, while his wife later alleged homicide. GPS records note that GDC Incident Report 364661 documents that Farmer reported a threat to his life shortly before death, that help was deferred, and that the death was not videotaped or forwarded for investigation. AJC reporting also described GDCP security breakdowns, including an alleged newly convicted inmate possessing a shank and contraband phone, and an officer who, according to the AJC, admitted to selling shakedown information to a death-row prisoner.

Special Management Unit (2025)

GPS records attribute two deaths at the Special Management Unit during King’s 2025 role there: Lashon Boddie (Sept. 2, 2025) and Michael Ogletree (Oct. 31, 2025). The supplied records do not provide a detailed cause for either death. During the same 2025 period, she also held the Deputy Warden of Security post at GDCP, where the record shows later deaths including Charles Ramen Coppeak (Nov. 19, 2025) and Tabaya Marshall Gray (Nov. 27, 2025).

Litigation

• Miller v. Holt, No. 5:25-cv-00356 (M.D. Ga., filed Aug. 25, 2025), pending. Court records list King as a defendant; no disposition or settlement is recorded.

Sources

• CourtListener — Miller v. Holt docket, No. 5:25-cv-00356
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation
• GBI Medical Examiner / Division of Forensic Sciences records obtained via GPS open records requests
• UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset (GDC coding)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — GDCP security and consultant reporting
• Georgia Bureau of Investigation DOFS records cited in the death-record notes

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.