Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola
Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola
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
Rashedah Fayola Mitchell began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2006 as a correctional officer at Baldwin State Prison before moving into behavioral health roles from 2011 onward, ultimately becoming a Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor. In February 2026, she stepped into a facility leadership role as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Hancock State Prison, a close-security facility that has been the subject of repeated scrutiny for violence and severe understaffing. GPS records attribute three in-custody deaths at Hancock State Prison during Mitchell’s current tenure, all occurring within her first two months in the deputy warden position. No lawsuits name Mitchell as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Hancock State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (February 2026–present)
Mitchell assumed the deputy warden role on February 1, 2026. Five days later, on February 6, inmate Jaylin Bell, 32, died following an altercation with his cellmate. A user report sourced from a Telegram inmate communication alleges that Bell was “killed by roommate in the hole,” referring to the segregation unit. On February 18, 27-year-old Jerrod Johnson was fatally stabbed; GPS records note that EMS crews were called but Johnson died before their arrival. A third death, of Jacorey Derrelle Pearson, 36, occurred on April 7, 2026; the cause of death has not been publicly released, though the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation described as standard procedure.All three deaths fall into GPS’s cause-of-death category 3, typically associated with homicide. The deaths occurred against a backdrop of dangerous conditions at Hancock State Prison documented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: as of late 2025, the prison had one of the highest correctional officer vacancy rates in the state, with 73.5 percent of positions unfilled, leaving only 49 officers to supervise more than 1,100 incarcerated people. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report had already described widespread violence and a culture of indifference inside Georgia’s prisons; Hancock was specifically cited in reporting for gang-related killings and staff failures to protect vulnerable prisoners. Intelligence reports collected by GPS also include Telegram relayed allegations of a stabbing in the visitation area on April 19, 2026, and a gang assault in a dormitory on March 24, 2026, both during Mitchell’s tenure.
While Mitchell’s earlier career as a behavioral health counselor and supervisor spanned over a decade without attributed deaths, her first leadership posting at Hancock has coincided with a deadly start to 2026. The facility’s combination of broken cell locks, chronic understaffing, and gang activity, as detailed by consultants and news investigations, forms the systemic context for these fatalities.
Litigation
No lawsuits are listed naming Rashedah Fayola Mitchell as a defendant.Sources
- GPS intelligence records – personnel file, death attributions, and user-submitted reports (including Telegram inmate relay)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution – multiple articles on Hancock State Prison’s officer vacancy rate, gang violence, DOJ findings, and specific in-custody deaths (e.g., coverage of vacancy rates, 2024 DOJ report, and homicides of Charles McKee, Francisco Melgar-Saldivar, and others)
- 41NBC – report on Jaylin Bell’s death following altercation with roommate
- U.S. Department of Justice – 2024 findings on violence and sexual assault in Georgia prisons
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2026-02-01 → present |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2019-01-01 → present | |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 3 | 2016-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Behavioral Health Counselor | 2011-01-01 → 2011-12-31 | |
| Correctional Officer | BALDWIN STATE PRISON | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
3 people died at facilities under Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-07 | JACOREY DERRELLE PEARSON | 36 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment |
| 2026-02-18 | JERROD JOHNSON | 27 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment |
| 2026-02-06 | JAYLIN BELL | 32 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment |
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.