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King, Sheneca
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 2026
Salary
$74,325
2025 · state payroll
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
Sheneca King began her GDC career in unit-supervisor roles at Central State Prison — as a Captain (2011) and later as a Unit Manager (2013, 2016–2018) — before advancing to deputy-warden postings. She served as Deputy Warden at Dooly State Prison (2019–2021), Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2022–2024), and the Special Management Unit (Jan–Nov 2025), after which she became a Special Assistant to the Warden at the SMU. During her time as a facility deputy, GPS records attribute a total of 80 deaths to her watch: 12 at Dooly, 66 at GDCP, and 2 at SMU. One pending federal lawsuit, Miller v. Holt, names King as a defendant in connection with conditions at the SMU. DOJ findings and media investigations from this period documented systemic understaffing, contraband, violence, and alleged official misconduct at the facilities she oversaw.What happened on their watch
Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2021)
GPS records attribute 12 deaths to King’s tenure at Dooly, all recorded with cause category 6. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of those decedents, James Yarbrough, died of diabetic ketoacidosis in August 2020 after months of uncontrolled diabetes; the AJC framed the case as an allegation of medical malpractice. The AJC also reported that a coroner alleged Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found at the prison. Intel records note that inmate Abraham Rivas later claimed correctional staff were aware of fraud schemes and drug use at Dooly, though those allegations surfaced after King’s departure. At the time of King’s deputy-warden post, the facility was already operating at more than double its original design capacity with a severe statewide correctional-officer vacancy rate.Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022–2024)
During this period, GPS records attribute 66 deaths to King’s facility. The AJC’s prison-homicides investigation identified several violent deaths: Carrell D. Johnson died from chopping injuries to the head and sharp-force injuries to the torso; Elmer W. Pless was strangled; Boyd Williams died of manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head; and Daniel Charriez died from delayed complications of a traumatic brain injury. The AJC also reported that Brandon Trace Burrell was assaulted by another inmate while under the influence of methamphetamine. Contraband and security breaches were rampant: newly convicted inmate Shane Tassi possessed a shank and a contraband cell phone within days of arrival, and officer Vera Jackson admitted to accepting money to give a death-row inmate information on upcoming shakedowns. Consultants hired by the governor found “almost every part” of the prison vandalized, and the facility held 4,540 people — 568 percent of its original design capacity — with a statewide corrections-officer vacancy near 50 percent. The U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation of Georgia prisons, which included GDCP, found that people were being assaulted, stabbed, raped, and killed in dangerously short-staffed units.Special Management Unit — Deputy Warden (Jan–Nov 2025), then Special Assistant to the Warden
GPS records list two deaths during King’s deputy-warden tenure at the SMU: Michael Ogletree and Lashion Boddie. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the SMU was the subject of a federal lawsuit, Miller v. Holt, filed in August 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; King is named as a defendant. The suit is pending. The DOJ’s investigation detailed systemic failures overlapping this period: prisoner review forms were falsified and backdated, GDC staff failed to check on inmate Ricardo Daughtry for nearly seven hours — in violation of a 30-minute check requirement — and records showed Daughtry attending activities after he had been pronounced dead. GDC officials were also accused of obstructing DOJ investigators by withholding records and restricting access. The AJC documented that Commissioner Tyrone Oliver misled state lawmakers about death numbers and that GDC stopped including preliminary causes in monthly mortality reports, drawing criticism for concealing homicides and suicides.Litigation
- Miller v. Holt, No. 5:25-cv-00356 (M.D. Ga., filed Aug. 25, 2025) — pending. King is named as a defendant; the case challenges conditions at the Special Management Unit.
Sources
- GPS records — total deaths attributed to King’s deputy-warden tenures at Dooly, GDCP, and SMU, and individual decedent listings.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide investigations (Carrell Johnson, Elmer Pless, Boyd Williams, Daniel Charriez), the DOJ’s findings on falsified records and obstruction, medical-neglect allegations (James Yarbrough), coroner’s allegation about delayed discovery of a body, contraband cell-phone and guard-corruption reports, and infrastructure damage at GDCP.
- U.S. Department of Justice investigation — findings of unconstitutional conditions, violence, understaffing, and official deception in Georgia prisons, including the SMU.
- 13WMAZ, WGXA, and Georgia Public Broadcasting — reports on gang-related fights, staff shortages, and facility lockdowns that contextualize the environment during King’s supervisory roles.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Special Assistant to the Warden | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2025-12-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | DOOLY STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CORRECTION ADMINISTRATION | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Unit Manager | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
| Captain | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2011-01-01 → 2011-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00356 | GAMD | 2025-08-25 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
80 people died at facilities under King, Sheneca's leadership.
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