Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola
Mitchell, Rashedah Fayola
Status: active
Profile written August 9, 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 as a correctional officer at Baldwin State Prison in 2006. She later transitioned into behavioral health counseling, holding progressively senior counselor and supervisor roles from 2011 through early 2026. In February 2026, Mitchell was appointed Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at Hancock State Prison, a facility-level leadership position responsible for health and rehabilitative services. GPS records show that during her leadership tenure at Hancock, a total of three deaths have been attributed to the facility — all occurring within the first months of her posting. No lawsuits name Mitchell as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Hancock State Prison — Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment (February 2026 – present) GPS records attribute three in-custody deaths to Hancock State Prison during Mitchell’s tenure as deputy warden. On February 6, 2026, Jaylin Bell, 32, died following an altercation with his cellmate; according to a report from 41NBC, the GDC stated his body was sent to the GBI crime lab. Thirteen days later, on February 18, Jerrod Johnson, 27, was fatally stabbed at the prison around 4:45 p.m. and died before EMS arrived. Then on April 7, Jacorey Derrelle Pearson, 36, died; the GDC has not released a cause of death, and the GBI crime lab is conducting an autopsy. All three deaths are under investigation by the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards as standard procedure.Mitchell stepped into a prison already in crisis. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Hancock State Prison had a 73.5 percent correctional officer vacancy rate as of October 2024, leaving only 49 officers to supervise over 1,100 incarcerated people. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation described Georgia’s prisons as beset by “stunning violence,” rampant sexual assaults, and gang-run facilities, fueled by a culture of indifference. At Hancock, multiple violent incidents preceded Mitchell’s appointment: two prisoners were found dead in the same dorm after gang-related violence in January 2025; seven prisoners were disciplined for a gang assault in September 2024; and a federal jury convicted prisoner Cleveland Gary of murdering Charles “Tristen” McKee with a 17-inch homemade machete in a 2022 attack that the DOJ found involved staff failing to act on repeated pleas for protection. While none of those earlier deaths are attributed to Mitchell’s tenure, they illustrate the persistent, dangerous conditions that continued into 2026, when a January brawl left five inmates stabbed and two airlifted to hospitals, and the three later deaths occurred under her leadership.
Sources
- 41NBC — report on Jaylin Bell’s death at Hancock State Prison (February 2026)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple investigations and reports on gang violence, staffing shortages, and deaths at Hancock State Prison (2024–2026), including coverage of Jerrod Johnson’s stabbing and broader prison conditions
- U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 findings on unconstitutional conditions in Georgia prisons
- GDC Office of Professional Standards — ongoing death investigations (per GDC statements)
- GPS intelligence records — death records and tenure data for Rashedah Fayola Mitchell
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.