King, Sheneca

Tenure Summary

Sheneca King's GDC career runs through Central State Prison, where she served as Captain (2011), Unit Manager (2013) and Correctional Unit Manager (2016–2018), with a 2015 posting in Correction Administration. She entered facility leadership as Deputy Warden at Dooly State Prison from 2019 through 2021, then as Deputy Warden at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison from 2022 through 2024. From January 1 to November 30, 2025 she held two posts at once — Deputy Warden at the Special Management Unit and Deputy Warden of Security at GDCP — before becoming Special Assistant to the Warden at the SMU on December 1, 2025; a single-date Deputy Warden entry at the SMU is recorded for August 27, 2026.

Ninety deaths are attributed to the facilities she led: 76 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, 12 at Dooly State Prison and 2 at the Special Management Unit. Three state liability payouts on the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger are tied to Dooly during her tenure there, including $700,000 connected to the 2020 death of James Robb Yarbrough, $3,100 tied to Rodney McCrary (2020) and $1,000 tied to Anthony T. Hill (2019). She is a named defendant in a pending federal lawsuit.

What happened on their watch

Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2021). Twelve deaths are attributed to her Dooly tenure. GPS event records list David Hunter (Nov. 19, 2021), Charles Busbee (May 25, 2021), Luckie Odis Miller (Feb. 21, 2021) and Andrew Harris (Jan. 7, 2021); James Robb Yarbrough (Aug. 14, 2020), Nathaniel Jr. Troy (Aug. 5, 2020), Michael Devern Terry (July 16, 2020), Glenn Whorton (June 10, 2020), Shelton Luzester Donaldson (June 2, 2020), Kenneth Hicks (May 22, 2020), Terry Lee Mintz (April 6, 2020) and Charles Scott Blassingame (Feb. 2, 2020). The DOAS ledger ties the three payouts above to Dooly incidents; the Yarbrough payout is linked to a documented death record.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022–2024). Per GPS event records, Daniel Charriez died Feb. 23, 2022, of delayed complications of traumatic brain injury; Boyd Henry Williams died Oct. 3, 2022, of manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head; Desmond Layne Hattaway died by suicide in April 2023, with those records describing inadequate mental-health monitoring after he was placed in segregation; Elmer W. Pless died May 15, 2023, by strangulation; Carrell Beontae Johnson died June 6, 2023, of chopping injuries to the head and sharp force injuries to the torso; and Brandon Trace Burrell died Jan. 28, 2024, from methamphetamine intoxication complicated by a physical altercation — the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported he was assaulted by another inmate while under the effects of methamphetamine and suffered numerous stab wounds. AJC reporting dated to this role describes a newly convicted inmate, Shane Tassi, photographed with a homemade shank and a contraband cell phone days after arriving, and 35 cellphones seized from inmate David "Toro" Zavala at the time of his guilty plea. Registry deaths during this tenure include:

• Johnny Earl Mcstotts died May 31, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 48.
• Gerald Kennard Stewart died June 11, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 67.
• James Douglas Arrendale died June 25, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Suicide, age 40.
• Gregory Lindsey died June 28, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 64.
• Edgar Jaramillo died July 8, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 53.
• Christopher Shawn Burnett died July 14, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Suicide, age 37.
• Rodriquez Demorris Garrett died Sept. 6, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Suicide, age 30.
• Albert Stinson died Sept. 24, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 76.
• Joshua Mark Holliday died Oct. 21, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Suicide, age 43.
• Stephen Allen Hester died Nov. 6, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 41.
• Thomas Jr. Williams died Nov. 7, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 62.
• Willie Henry Ponder died Nov. 8, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 47.
• John Irvin Jr. Tidd died Dec. 15, 2024, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Suicide, age 36.

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security (Jan. 1–Nov. 30, 2025). Registry deaths in this posting:

• William Rhodes died Feb. 20, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 38.
• Michael Scott West died March 6, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Accident, age 46.
• David Octavious Robbs died April 30, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 37.
• Mark Smith died June 7, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical, age 53. Separate GPS event records describe his death as involving advanced Parkinson's disease, medication failures, a denied transfer to the medical unit and hours without security rounds.
• Jacob Scott Wilcox died June 28, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Homicide, age 27.
• Woodrow Wilson Hodges died July 14, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 68.
• Daniel Claude Callahan died July 26, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Natural/Medical, age 72.
• Christopher Wayne Crook died Aug. 5, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 49.
• Charles Ramen Coppeak died Nov. 19, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Overdose, age 26.
• Tabaya Marshall Gray died Nov. 27, 2025, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 52.

AJC reporting at this facility alleges that "almost every part" of the prison had been vandalized by prisoners amid widespread infrastructure failures; that a prisoner who requested protection from threatening gang members was moved instead to a location where six gang members attacked him with razor blades; and, in a report dated Oct. 24, 2025, that deaths were deleted from an inmate database, no autopsy was ordered and witness statements disappeared. An April 6, 2025 event record describes a prisoner stabbed fatally in the chest, witnessed by multiple inmates, with a 30-minute delay before an officer responded.

Special Management Unit — Deputy Warden (Jan. 1–Nov. 30, 2025). Two deaths are attributed to this posting: Lashon Boddie died Sept. 2, 2025, at Special Management Unit; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 30. Michael Ogletree died Oct. 31, 2025, at Special Management Unit; registry cause Unknown/Pending, age 33. AJC reporting dated to this role alleges that GDC made false or misleading statements to federal investigators, lawmakers and a federal judge; that review forms were falsified and backdated; that inmate Ricardo Daughtry went nearly seven hours without a check before his body was found and was logged at table time and recreation after he had been pronounced dead; that PREA investigations were found defective by the agency's own consultants; and that GDC obstructed DOJ investigators. GPS event records for the same period note a federal contempt order by U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell over the 2019 SMU settlement, the October DOJ report calling Georgia's prisons inhumane, and a settlement in inmate Timothy Gunn's solitary-confinement lawsuit requiring an independent monitor. On Dec. 1, 2025 King moved to Special Assistant to the Warden at the SMU.

Litigation

• Miller v. Holt, No. 5:25-cv-00356, filed Aug. 25, 2025 in GAMD; King is listed as a defendant; status pending, no outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigative reporting on GDCP conditions, prisoner assaults and contraband, the Special Management Unit contempt findings, PREA failures, and DOJ obstruction
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — $700,000, $3,100 and $1,000 Dooly State Prison payouts
• U.S. Department of Justice report (October) on conditions in Georgia prisons, as reported
• Court records — docket for Miller v. Holt (GAMD); contempt order by U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell
• GPS death registry and event records — deaths, settlements, lawsuits and incidents listed above

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 27, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.