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King, Sheneca
Status: active
Profile written September 13, 2026
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 spent roughly 15 years in Georgia Department of Corrections custody-side roles, beginning as a Captain at Central State Prison (2011) and moving through unit management there (2013; 2016–2018) before her first facility-leadership posting as Deputy Warden at Dooly State Prison (2019–2021). She transferred to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP) as Deputy Warden in 2022, held that title through 2024 and added Deputy Warden of Security there in 2025, concurrently listed as Deputy Warden at the Special Management Unit (SMU). From December 2025 she is listed as Special Assistant to the Warden at SMU.
GPS records attribute 90 deaths to King's leadership tenures: 76 at GDCP, 12 at Dooly State Prison, and 2 at SMU. One lawsuit is recorded against her as a defendant — Miller v. Holt, still pending.
What happened on their watch
Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2021)
Per GPS records, 12 deaths are attributed to this tenure. Among the decedents named in GPS's capped sample, those identified were men aged 46–73, and most carry the GDC's own "Natural" mortality coding, obtained by the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project through an open-records request. James Robb Yarbrough (Aug. 14, 2020, age 46) carries GDC's "Undetermined" code in that dataset; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Yarbrough went months with uncontrolled diabetes at Dooly and died of ketoacidosis, in a case described as alleging medical malpractice. A separate AJC item records a coroner's allegation — no date given in the record — that Carlos Omar Soldiew-Acosta may have been dead more than 24 hours before his body was found at Dooly. Other Dooly intel in GPS records (drone contraband, an inmate fraud scheme, 2026 gang fights) postdates her tenure and is not attributed to it.Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Deputy Warden (2022–2024) and Deputy Warden of Security (2025)
GPS records attribute 76 deaths to King's GDCP tenures. Named decedents in the sample include GBI-certified suicides by hanging — Rodriquez Demorris Garrett (Sept. 6, 2024, 30), Christopher Shawn Burnett (July 14, 2024, 37), Timothy Todd Holbrook (April 8, 2024, 34) — and ME-confirmed natural deaths including John Arthur Gilstrap (April 1, 2024, 45) and Timothy Bernard Revis (Nov. 5, 2022, 56). The AJC's homicide investigation lists Carrell D. Johnson (June 6, 2023, 32, chopping/sharp-force injuries), Elmer W. Pless (May 15, 2023, 65, strangulation), and Boyd Williams (Oct. 3, 2022, 64, manual strangulation and blunt-force trauma); AJC also reports Brandon Trace Burrell (Jan. 28, 2024, 31) was assaulted by another inmate while under methamphetamine and repeatedly stabbed.In one disputed case, Billy Joe Farmer (March 25, 2023, 42) was certified a suicide by hanging by the GBI; per GPS records, his wife disputes that account, and GDC's own incident report is described as corroborating that Farmer reported a threat to his life to staff minutes before death, that help was deferred, and that the death was not video-recorded or forwarded for investigation. The record also notes recurring GBI "no records"/declined-autopsy outcomes for several 2022 GDCP decedents, leaving cause unresolved.
A Jan. 31, 2026 report in GPS records states GDCP held 4,540 people at 568% of its original 1968 design capacity; AJC reporting describes widespread vandalism and infrastructure failure there.
Special Management Unit — Deputy Warden (2025)
GPS records attribute 2 deaths to King's SMU tenure: Lashon Boddie (Sept. 2, 2025, 30) and Michael Ogletree (Oct. 31, 2025, 33). SMU-focused AJC and DOJ-sourced reporting in the file — falsified and backdated prisoner review forms, a failure to check on Ricardo Daughtry for nearly seven hours against a 30-minute policy, and defective PREA investigations — is not dated in the record in a way that ties it to King's specific tenure.Litigation
- Miller v. Holt, No. 5:25-cv-00356 (U.S. District Court, M.D. Ga.), filed Aug. 25, 2025 — pending. King is listed as a defendant per GPS court records; no disposition or damages amount recorded.
Sources
- GPS personnel and mortality records — King, Sheneca (positions, attributed death counts)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicide investigation (Johnson, Pless, Williams); prison homicides list (Burrell); "Prison system failures cost Georgia taxpayers millions" (Yarbrough); officials' false/misleading statements (Daughtry, review forms)
- GBI Medical Examiner production via GPS open-records requests (Garrett, Burnett, Holbrook, Gilstrap, Revis)
- UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project custodial mortality dataset (Dooly deaths; GDC's own cause coding)
- Georgia Public Broadcasting (Dec. 2023) — staffing shortages, gang violence, family information gaps
- CourtListener — Miller v. Holt docket
- Butts County E-911 production and GBI autopsy file (Holliday)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2026-08-27 → present |
| Special Assistant to the Warden | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2025-12-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Deputy Warden of Security | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2022-01-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| Deputy Warden | GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| 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
90 people died at facilities under King, Sheneca's leadership.
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