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Messer, ADA Y
Status: active
Profile written July 12, 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
Ada Y. Messer began working for the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a Purchase & Procurement Specialist, later rising to Procurement Agent before transitioning to facility leadership. In 2018, Messer became a Deputy Warden at Johnson State Prison, a role held continuously through at least early 2026. During that leadership tenure, GPS records attribute 88 deaths to Johnson State Prison, including multiple homicides, a failed food-safety inspection, an escape, and at least one federal lawsuit naming Messer as a defendant. The state paid several large settlements tied to deaths at the prison during this period, most prominently a $4 million payout in the killing of David Henegar just before a scheduled trial.What Happened on Their Watch
As Deputy Warden of Johnson State Prison from 2018 onward, Messer served in a senior facility role while 88 incarcerated people died there, per GPS records. The documented deaths include at least eight classified as homicides, according to investigative reports and death records. Among them: Jerry Brown (2020) died from stab wounds and blunt facial trauma; David Henegar (2021) was manually strangled and beaten by his cellmate over several hours; Michael Page (2023) was ruled a homicide; Donald Lee (2023) suffered blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso; Kenneth Robinson (2024) was listed as a homicide in incident data; Michael Peschel (2026) received 20 stab wounds from his cellmate; Paul Brewster (2025) is simply noted as “homocide”; and an inmate report alleges Phillip Byrd (2026) was beaten and forcibly overdosed by gang members. Many of these killings were reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigation into Georgia prison homicides.A cascade of systemic failures and allegations surfaced. The Henegar homicide drew a federal lawsuit, Wade v. Morgan, filed in 2023 in the Southern District of Georgia, naming Messer among the defendants. The suit, according to the AJC, accuses officers of ignoring Henegar’s screams and fellow prisoners’ pleas while a mentally ill cellmate, who had previously attacked Henegar, hogtied, stomped and choked him over roughly five hours. Prison officials had also kept Henegar in custody past his release date due to an administrative delay, leaving him exposed to the fatal assault, the complaint alleges. In April 2026, days before trial, the state paid Henegar’s family $4 million to settle the case.
Beyond violence, facility conditions fell under scrutiny. A December 2023 food-safety inspection at Johnson State Prison yielded a failing score of 64 out of 100, with documentation of rats, roaches, and broken kitchen equipment. In April 2026—still during Messer’s tenure, per GPS death records—multiple GPS reports and intel relays described contaminated food trays with residue making incarcerated people ill, linked to a failed dishwashing system that forced a manual chemical-dunk process. GPS records also note an escape from the prison on April 5, 2023, for which GDC issued no public news release. Additional state settlements paid out for other incidents during Messer’s deputy warden tenure, including $1.45 million for the 2020 death of Jerry Brown, $100,000 tied to Andrick Jackson in 2023, and a $1,500 settlement for Antione Caldwell in 2020.
Litigation
- Wade v. Morgan, 3:23-cv-00073 (S.D. Ga., filed Aug. 31, 2023) — pending federal lawsuit naming ADA Y. Messer as a defendant, alleging prison staff failed to protect David Henegar from a fatal beating by his cellmate. The state later settled the underlying death claim with the family for $4 million in 2026.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — homicide investigation reports detailing deaths of Jerry Brown, David Henegar, Michael Page, Donald Lee, and Kenneth Robinson at Johnson State Prison.
- Court records — Wade v. Morgan, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (2023).
- GPS death records — accounting for 88 deaths during ADA Y. Messer’s deputy warden tenure at Johnson State Prison, including cause categories and incident dates.
- GA Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger — documenting state payouts of $4 million (Henegar), $1,449,640 (Brown), $100,000 (Jackson), and $1,500 (Caldwell) tied to Johnson State Prison.
- GPS intel reports — reports of contaminated food trays (2026), failed food-safety inspection (2023), and inmate accounts of Phillip Byrd’s killing (2026).
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → present |
| PURCHASE/PROCUREMENT AGENT 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| PURCH & PROC SPEC (AL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:23-cv-00073 | GASD | 2023-08-31 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
88 people died at facilities under Messer, ADA Y's leadership.
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