Nicholson, Nequeva

Tenure Summary

Nequeva Nicholson began her GDC career as a correctional officer at Macon State Prison in 2015, rising through the ranks to sergeant before moving into supervisory roles as a lieutenant (2020–2023, facility unspecified for 2020–2022) and then to Dooly State Prison, where she served as Lieutenant (2023), Captain (2024), Deputy Warden (January 1–15, 2025), and Deputy Warden of Administration (January 16, 2025–present). GPS records attribute 31 deaths at Dooly State Prison to periods when Nicholson held a supervisory or deputy-warden role there, spanning 2023 through early 2026. Those deaths include at least six confirmed or alleged homicides and multiple deaths in cause categories consistent with illness or undetermined causes. No lawsuits naming Nicholson as a defendant appear in GPS records.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Dooly State Prison — Lieutenant (2023)

Nicholson held the rank of CSM Correctional Lieutenant at Dooly State Prison throughout 2023. GPS records attribute ten deaths at the facility during that year. The majority fall into cause category 6 (illness/undetermined): Joel Lamar Long, 53 (November 8); Willie Frank Garrett, 53 (December 17); Roy Mason Morris, 64 (October 15); Willie Delane Snipes, 39 (August 6); Jared Alexander Hall, 34 (June 28); James Michael Bailey, 44 (April 8); Jeremy John Wells, 51 (March 5). Three deaths were classified as homicides. Per the AJC Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation, Dimitri Merci Jackson, 36, died January 3 from a stab wound to the chest; Chad Taylor Roadifer, 45, died October 27 from delayed complications of blunt force head trauma sustained months earlier. A third homicide, that of Brian Lee Wainwright, 59, is recorded in GPS records with the AJC investigation cited as the source, though his incident date falls on January 4, 2024, at the boundary of Nicholson's lieutenant and captain tenures.

Dooly State Prison — Captain (2024)

Nicholson served as Correctional Captain at Dooly State Prison for the full calendar year 2024. GPS records attribute thirteen deaths at the facility during this period. Confirmed or alleged homicides include: Zeary Davante Davis, 31, who per a GPS case report bled to death on a dormitory floor on September 26 — a county coroner told a television station he was stabbed; Brian Lee Wainwright, 59, whose January 4 death is cited by the AJC investigation as a homicide. The remaining eleven deaths fall into cause category 6. A coroner alleged, per the AJC, that Carlito Omar Soldiew-Acosta, 38, who died June 22, may have been dead for more than 24 hours before his body was found. Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that the family of another Dooly prisoner alleged medical staff put his father's treatment "on the back burner," contributing to his death from sepsis. WGXA reported that a corrections officer cadet, Julius Deshawn Williams Jr., pleaded guilty in December 2025 to attempting to smuggle 640 grams of methamphetamine into Dooly State Prison — conduct that, per the timeline, would have been investigated during or after Nicholson's captain tenure. GDC and local outlets (WGXA, 13WMAZ) reported at least one gang-related fight injuring multiple inmates at the facility during this period.

Dooly State Prison — Deputy Warden / Deputy Warden of Administration (January 2025–present)

Nicholson was elevated to Deputy Warden on January 15, 2025, and to Deputy Warden of Administration on January 16, 2025. GPS records attribute eight deaths at Dooly during this tenure through January 2026. Joshua Parrott, 45, died January 12, 2025 — GPS records note the death was initially classified as suicide and later reclassified as homicide by strangulation. Horario Philmore, 58, died February 2, 2025; GPS records note the death was officially ruled a suicide, but inmate reports indicate strangulation. Darrow Brown, 58, died November 7, 2025; a user report states he was killed on a facility walkway while being escorted by an officer, allegedly by a member of the Crips gang, and that Brown was not gang-affiliated. The remaining deaths — Timothy Glenn Williams, 56 (April 17); Orlando Perez Glass, 49 (August 17); Marshall Davis Crews, 69 (September 19); Willie Mote, 70 (October 14); Paul Counts, 60 (October 30); Dexter Andres Levy, 32 (November 16); Samuel Jacob Blackmon, 40 (January 19, 2026) — fall into cause categories 5 or 6. GPS records note that as of early 2026, Dooly State Prison held 1,593 people in a facility designed for 750 (212% of design capacity), with a statewide correctional officer vacancy rate averaging 50%. GPS relay-bot reports document multiple stabbing incidents at the facility between March and April 2026, including mass stabbings in D building on April 15 and a gang-related altercation on April 3 that sent six inmates to hospitals, three by Life Flight. WALB reported allegations that correctional staff were aware of an inmate running a phone fraud scheme from inside the prison during this period.

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Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (homicide cause-of-death records for Roadifer, Jackson, Wainwright, Davis); staffing and systemic reporting on GDC vacancy rates and gang violence; Soldiew-Acosta coroner allegation; Yarbrough medical malpractice allegation; 2025 homicide pace reporting
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — allegation that Dooly medical staff delayed treatment contributing to a prisoner's death from sepsis
• WGXA — Julius Deshawn Williams Jr. guilty plea; gang-related fight at Dooly State Prison
• 13WMAZ — gang-related fight at Dooly State Prison
• WALB — Abraham Rivas phone fraud scheme; allegation that staff were aware of scheme
• GPS records / case management system — deaths of Parrott (strangulation reclassification), Philmore (suicide ruling vs. inmate strangulation reports), Brown (user report of gang killing on walkway), Blackmon, and all cause-category attributions; relay-bot incident reports (March–April 2026 stabbings at Dooly)
• GPS intel events — Dooly overcrowding reports (1,593 held vs. 750 design capacity; 50% vacancy rate, January 2026)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 10, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.