McFarlane, Andrew M

Tenure Summary

Andrew M. McFarlane's career in the Georgia Department of Corrections runs from a 2015 correctional-administration post, through unit management and two deputy wardenships, to a facility-lead role. He was CSM Correctional Unit Manager at Rogers State Prison in 2016; Deputy Warden at Rogers in 2017–2018; Deputy Warden at Smith State Prison from 2019 through 2022; a Deputy Warden with no facility listed for the first half of 2023; and Warden at Telfair State Prison from July 1, 2023 — a role also recorded as Warden 3 at Telfair in 2024, 2025 and again on Aug. 27, 2026. His status is active.

Fifty-three deaths are attributed to facilities during his leadership tenures: 36 at Telfair State Prison and 17 at Smith State Prison. The GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) records a $3,249,872.60 state liability payout to the family/estate of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano tied to Telfair (2023 incident, linked to a documented death record) and $1,450,000 tied to Smith State Prison in the Christopher Heath matter (2020). Court dockets list McFarlane as a defendant in six cases between 2012 and 2025.

What happened on their watch

Rogers State Prison — CSM Correctional Unit Manager (2016); Deputy Warden (2017–2018). No deaths are attributed to his tenures here in the by-facility totals. The DOAS settlement ledger records a $75 payout tied to Rogers for a 2017 incident while he held the Deputy Warden role.

Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019–2022). Seventeen deaths are attributed to Smith during this tenure. Records compiled for this profile show stabbings, strangulation and asphyxia among them: Taylor Harrison Brooks died April 10, 2020, age 26, from multiple stab wounds; John Bretleir Reyes Cardona died April 20, 2020, age 24, from exsanguination due to a stab wound to the neck; Justin Nathaniel Wilkerson died Jan. 5, 2021, age 25, from asphyxia due to neck compression; Desmond Hill died April 9, 2021, age 35, by strangulation, and a family member reported he had called his mother the day before saying his cellmate threatened to kill him; Hiwatha Abdulcah Hakeem Jr. died April 12, 2021, age 26, from multiple stab wounds, and a lawsuit alleges the attackers had a history of violence and that prison officials failed to provide timely medical care; Derrick Dionte Deshun Harvey died June 25, 2021, age 26, from a stab wound to the chest; Christopher Ray Reynolds died July 1, 2021, age 38, from blunt and sharp force injuries; Christopher Michael Redwine died Sept. 27, 2021, age 45, from asphyxia due to manual strangulation; Nathan Michael Mahan died Oct. 23, 2022, age 37, from stab wounds.

Broader records from that period: at least 90 people were slain in Georgia prisons between 2020 and the end of 2022, three times the previous three-year figure; at least 49 Georgia prisoners died of drug overdoses between 2019 and 2022, against 2 in 2018; at least 43 died by suicide in 2022; corrections overtime spending passed $4 million. A 2022 account describes officer Andrew Phillips working 11 straight days as the only officer over 600 men, amid a mattress fire and a stabbing. In the 2021 Glennville killing of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter, investigators determined the shot was a hit ordered from inside Smith State Prison by inmate Nathan Weekes and intended for a correctional officer; Kicklighter's family filed a wrongful death suit alleging former Warden Brian Adams and former officer Ireon Moore facilitated a criminal enterprise.

Telfair State Prison — Warden from July 1, 2023 (also recorded as Warden 3). Thirty-six deaths are attributed to Telfair. Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano died July 20, 2023, age 27, after officers placed him in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot fenced-in outdoor cage with no shade while the heat index reached about 105°F and left him roughly five hours; he reached the hospital at 107°F internal temperature. The DOAS ledger records a $3,249,872.60 payout to his family/estate; Bibiano v. Garrett was filed Feb. 13, 2025 and remains pending. 13WMAZ reported an allegation that an officer responded "if he dies, he dies" when the inmate pleaded for help in extreme heat.

Also at Telfair: Kwesi Jamal Stultz died Dec. 22, 2023, age 24, from multiple injuries to the head; Joey Lebron Kilgore died Feb. 29, 2024, age 46, in a homicide; Lamar Wilson died June 1, 2024, age 32, from injuries suffered during a fight; Zoumana Madiou Sarre died July 5, 2024, age 23, from multiple sharp force injuries to the neck and torso; Henry Crump died Sept. 2, 2024, age 41, with incident report data showing a homicide; Eric Whitehead died Sept. 18, 2024, age 29, after a fight with another inmate. The warden at Telfair was stabbed by an inmate during a March 25, 2024 contraband shakedown, and the AJC reported that Telfair was missing 76% of its essential workforce, with 36 officers supervising 1,400 prisoners. A $500 payout to Deante Gholston tied to Telfair (2024) appears in the DOAS ledger.

The AJC reported May 12, 2025 that Telfair had 79% of correctional officer positions unfilled — 32 officers for a facility requiring at least 153. Claims filed against the state alleged that De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, who had renounced his gang affiliation and become a target of previous attacks, was stabbed by several prisoners at a time when no prison staff were present in the dorm. On Jan. 28, 2026 the AJC reported Sgt. Desiree Briley helped prisoner James Dylon NeSmith smuggle meth into Telfair and distribute it for at least two years, in an operation linked to Operation Ghost Busted. Inmate, family and Telegram reports during his wardenship describe deaths in restrictive housing, canceled visitation, stabbings, a dorm fight met with chemical agents (at least one person reported overcome by the agent while their cell door was open), an altercation resulting in at least one fatality and lockdowns at multiple facilities, and an allegation that multiple people were killed in a Bloods–Muslims conflict that triggered a statewide lockdown. In September 2026 a gang-related fight at Telfair injured three inmates and GDC placed all facilities under lockdown. Inmate Kendall Alfonzo Stevens was accused, per Yahoo.com, of making a bomb threat against an Atkinson County school; the GBI investigated. GDC's Office of Professional Standards investigated deaths in custody, including that of Timothy Wilson.

The 25 most recent deaths during this tenure, per GPS's registry:

• Kwame Conte Mccombs died July 25, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 37; the cause is not yet known.
• Antwane Shanfiel Robinson died July 13, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 46; the cause is not yet known.
• Franciso Samuel Cruz-Castro died June 12, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 56; the cause is not yet known.
• Timothy Wilson died June 7, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 48; the cause is not yet known.
• Tavares Zavoyd Atwell died March 10, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 41; the cause is not yet known.
• Eric Bernard Haynes died Jan. 21, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 51; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Kenneth George Hinton died Jan. 2, 2026, at Telfair State Prison, age 41; the cause is not yet known.
• Elvis Noe Garcia-Nelasco died Dec. 29, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 38; the cause is not yet known.
• Preston C Phelps died Dec. 13, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 28; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Robert Baker died Oct. 12, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 45; the registry lists the cause as Suicide.
• Gary Chad Thomason died Sept. 14, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 53; the cause is not yet known.
• Robert Wayne Messer died Sept. 11, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 63; the registry lists the cause as Overdose.
• Henry L Gadson died Sept. 10, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 60; the cause is not yet known.
• David Lane Campbell died July 22, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 44; the registry lists the cause as Overdose.
• Malindzo Eddy Hatcher died July 21, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 42; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Thaddeus Jovell Perry died July 17, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 50; the cause is not yet known.
• Tony Morales Adame died June 26, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 32; the registry lists the cause as Overdose.
• Lester James Smith died June 2, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 45; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• William Clinton Worley died April 12, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 49; the cause is not yet known.
• Ezra Dangelo Ford died March 25, 2025, at Telfair State Prison, age 21; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Deandre Moody died Jan. 28, 2025, at Telfair State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Guillermo Nava died Dec. 27, 2024, at Telfair State Prison, age 33; the cause is not yet known.
• Aaron Joshua Smith died Dec. 19, 2024, at Telfair State Prison, age 32; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Eric Leigh Whitehead died Sept. 18, 2024, at Telfair State Prison, age 29; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Henry Earl Crump died Sept. 2, 2024, at Telfair State Prison, age 41; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.

Litigation

Court dockets list McFarlane as a defendant in:

• Hall v. Mcfarlane, 3:23-cv-00094 (GASD), filed Nov. 29, 2023; closed March 4, 2024; terminated.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191 (GAND), filed June 6, 2025; closed March 30, 2026; terminated.
• Bibiano v. Garrett, 3:25-cv-00013 (GASD), filed Feb. 13, 2025; pending.
• Daker v. Ward, 7:20-cv-00113 (GAMD), filed June 11, 2020; closed Nov. 3, 2021; terminated.
• Timmons v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 6:17-cv-00116 (GASD), filed Sept. 6, 2017; closed March 25, 2021; terminated.
• Jackson v. Catanzariti, 6:12-cv-00113 (GASD), filed Dec. 10, 2012; closed June 28, 2023; terminated.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Telfair staffing reports (2024, 2025), the De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd claims, the Desiree Briley / Operation Ghost Busted case, and Georgia prison homicide and conditions coverage during the Smith and Telfair tenures.
• 13WMAZ — report on the alleged "if he dies, he dies" remark in the heat-related death at Telfair.
• Yahoo.com — report on inmate Kendall Alfonzo Stevens and the Atkinson County school bomb threat allegation.
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — payouts tied to Telfair, Smith and Rogers.
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — investigations described in the event records.
• Federal court dockets via CourtListener (GAND, GASD, GAMD) — the six cases above.
• GPS intel case submissions — inmate, family and Telegram reports from Telfair State Prison.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.