Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Odum, ROY Matthew
Odum, ROY Matthew
Status: active
Profile written August 23, 2026
Current Position
Correctional Sr. Mgr
Salary
$111,179
2025 · state payroll
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
Roy Matthew Odum’s GDC record runs from 2007 through 2025, moving from correctional officer at Smith State Prison (2007), to lieutenant at Rogers State Prison (2011 and 2016), to lieutenant and then unit manager at Georgia State Prison (2017–2018), before rising to deputy warden of Ware State Prison (2019–2020), warden of Ware State Prison (2021–October 15, 2024), and warden of Valdosta State Prison (October 16, 2024–July 15, 2025). GPS records attribute 68 deaths to his facility-leadership tenures: 58 at Ware State Prison and 10 at Valdosta State Prison. Two pending federal lawsuits filed in June 2025 name Odum as a defendant.What happened on their watch
Ware State Prison (deputy warden 2019–2020; warden 2021–October 2024)
GPS attributes 58 deaths to Odum’s Ware tenure. The earliest listed Ware deaths occurred in 2020 while he was deputy warden: Tony Jackson and Steve Purcell Jones died of COVID-19 in July 2020 per Ware County Coroner records; that same month Robert Lee Wilson died of multiple stab wounds, and in September 2020 Christopher Rawls died by strangulation. During his warden years, the Ware listings include homicides — among them Robert Darius Scott (strangled by a cellmate, May 2021), Christopher Gresham (September 2021), Vadarian Carr and Kyle Strother (2022), Alfonso Moore and Thomas McCoy (2023), and Samuel Ellis, Christopher Taylor, Leonardo Anderson, and Squaier Jiles (2024). Suicides by hanging listed during that period include Kaleb Roberts, Courtney Jackson, Rickey Barron, Tyler Grogan, Anthony Castleberry, Trevanti Givens, and Scott Bardwell. The records also show methamphetamine-toxicity deaths, including Dontavius Mintz, Brian Dukes, John Ekers, Robert Anderson, Isaac Cullins, and Timothy Beam. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that ten inmates were killed at Ware State Prison between July 2020 and August 2024, according to GDC incident reports. GPS also flags a cause-of-death conflict for Eddie L. Ross (died July 22, 2021): GDC’s own coding read “Homicide,” while the medical-examiner–sourced record in GPS files held a natural determination.Valdosta State Prison (warden October 16, 2024–July 15, 2025)
GPS attributes 10 deaths to Odum’s Valdosta tenure. The listings include Billy Chaney, Antonio Anderson, and Matthew Dane Jackson in December 2024, none with a specified cause in the records. In January 2025, GDC’s published January 2025 mortality data recorded Sinjuan Harmon as a homicide by strangulation, and WALB reported he was killed after an altercation. Ryan Rumph (March 11, 2025) and Brandon McGee (April 2, 2025) were found dead in their cells and their bodies sent to the GBI crime lab, according to WALB; after Rumph’s death, the Valdosta coroner told WTXL that “Valdosta State Prison needs help.” Chet Elliott Kent’s record notes he “died in the hole,” while Eric Schermerhorn and Jason Frank Jordan also carry no cause-of-death determination in the records. The GBI medical examiner certified Anthony Prothro’s April 7, 2025 death as suicide by hanging. During the same period, advocacy reports dated April 26, 2025 alleged caged housing without toilet access and gang control of kitchen operations at Valdosta, per GPS intel records. A Georgia DOAS risk-management ledger records a $2,000 state payout tied to Valdosta State Prison (Kenneth Greene Jr.) on March 5, 2025.Litigation
- Brown v. Odum, No. 5:25-cv-00062, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (GASD), filed June 30, 2025; status pending. (CourtListener)
- Jackson v. Odum, No. 5:25-cv-00051, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (GASD), filed June 9, 2025; status pending. (CourtListener)
Sources
- GPS personnel and mortality records — Roy Matthew Odum tenure, salary, and death-attribution data
- Ware County Coroner and GBI Division of Forensic Sciences / medical examiner records
- GDC January 2025 mortality release
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Ga prison homicides: a list of those killed in Georgia’s prison system”
- WALB and WTXL — Valdosta State Prison death coverage
- Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records)
- CourtListener — Brown v. Odum and Jackson v. Odum dockets
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| CORRECTIONAL SR. MGR | 2025-01-01 → present | |
| Warden | VALDOSTA STATE PRISON | 2024-10-16 → 2025-07-15 |
| WARDEN 3 | 2024-01-01 → 2024-10-15 | |
| Warden | WARE STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-10-15 |
| Warden 3 | WARE STATE PRISON | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| WARDEN 3 | WARE STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WARE STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | GEORGIA STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Lieutenant | ROGERS STATE PRISON | 2011-01-01 → 2011-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | SMITH STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00062 | GASD | 2025-06-30 | pending |
| 5:25-cv-00051 | GASD | 2025-06-09 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
68 people died at facilities under Odum, ROY Matthew's leadership.
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