McKenzie, Lachaka Nicole

Tenure Summary

Lachaka Nicole McKenzie began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2005 as a correctional officer at Macon State Prison, later working as a counselor at Dooly State Prison and returning to Macon in behavioral health roles. She rose to deputy warden at Macon State Prison in 2017, a position she held through 2022. After a stint as correctional unit manager at Central State Prison in 2023–2024, she became deputy warden there in 2025 and was subsequently appointed Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment, a role she holds as of the latest GPS records. GPS records attribute a total of 41 deaths to facilities during her leadership tenures: 32 at Macon State Prison and 9 at Central State Prison. Her time as deputy warden at Macon coincided with a series of homicides investigated by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and multiple lawsuits were filed against her in federal court during and after these postings.

What Happened on Their Watch

Macon State Prison — Deputy Warden (2017–2022)
During McKenzie’s six years as deputy warden, 32 people died in custody, according to GPS records. Among them were 14 homicides (cause category 3) documented in an AJC investigation, including Carrington Frye (age 23, stabbed in the neck and chest in March 2020), Bobby Edward Lee (age 38, ligature strangulation in July 2020), and Kendrick Brown (age 25, blunt force head injury in October 2022). The AJC also reported allegations tied to these deaths: Frye’s mother claimed her son bled for over half an hour before help arrived; a federal lawsuit alleged Lee was placed in a cell with a convicted murderer despite pleas for protection and that no officers responded until after he was strangled; Brown’s mother alleged he was housed with a dangerous prisoner shortly before his scheduled release. The newspaper found the prison was critically understaffed—a coroner described only five to eight officers staffing the entire facility when responding to deaths—and that most cell locks did not work, enabling gang violence. A DOJ investigation cited by the AJC reported that four gang members ran past an officer to fatally stab a prisoner in the kitchen. During McKenzie’s tenure, four Macon officers were arrested for violating their oath and providing false statements, and an inmate-led drug trafficking conspiracy operating from inside the prison resulted in guilty pleas.

Central State Prison — Unit Manager (2023–2024); Deputy Warden (2025–present)
GPS records show no deaths attributed to Central State Prison during McKenzie’s tenure as correctional unit manager. After she became deputy warden in January 2025, nine deaths occurred at the facility. These include a suicide in the segregation unit (Miguel Duran, age 44, March 2026), an accidental opiate overdose (Joseph Hamm, age 36, October 2025—according to a tip from the dorm), and seven other deaths whose causes were recorded as natural or unknown. While she held the deputy warden role, the prison was the site of multiple reported incidents: three former guards were accused of beating an inmate in March 2025; a guard was charged with falsely imprisoning four DFCS employees in December 2025; and an inmate was hospitalized after a fight in January 2026. The AJC noted that a DOJ report documented a stabbing death at the facility, and Georgia Public Broadcasting reported severe staff shortages that allowed gangs to effectively run Georgia prisons, endangering lives.

Litigation

• Smith v. Ward, No. 1:19-cv-03871 (N.D. Ga., filed Aug. 12, 2019, terminated Jun. 7, 2023)
• Bey v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 5:19-cv-00236 (M.D. Ga., filed Jun. 14, 2019, terminated Sept. 30, 2022)
• Tucker v. Holt, No. 5:24-cv-00360 (M.D. Ga., filed Oct. 16, 2024, terminated Jun. 11, 2025)
• Tucker v. Wellpath Llc, No. 5:24-cv-00215 (M.D. Ga., filed Jul. 3, 2024, pending)

Sources

• GPS records — death totals and individual decedent names, cause categories, and facility postings
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports during 2017–2022 tenure at Macon State Prison, DOJ findings, understaffing allegations, and family claims
• Court records (PACER/CourtListener) — four federal lawsuits naming McKenzie as defendant
• 13WMAZ — drug trafficking conspiracy from Macon State Prison, guard arrests
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — reports on severe staffing shortages enabling gang control at Georgia prisons
• Solitary Watch — allegation that authorities cut hot water to Macon State Prison prisoners during a strike

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 31, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.