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Owens, Robert
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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
Robert Owens has held a series of roles with an increasing scope of supervisory authority within the Georgia Department of Corrections since 2015, progressing from correctional officer to deputy warden. GPS records show that Owens’s career trajectory placed him in the `facility_deputy` accountability tier in 2024, when he assumed the post of Deputy Warden at the Metro Reentry Facility in DeKalb County. During his leadership tenure at that facility, GPS records attribute a total of 17 deaths to the facility under his watch.What happened on their watch
Metro Reentry Facility — Deputy Warden (2024–2025) GPS records document 17 deaths at the Metro Reentry Facility during Owens’s tenure as Deputy Warden. According to the provided data, these deaths occurred between January 2024 and March 2026. The decedents ranged in age from 36 to 85 years old, and each death is categorized by GPS records under cause category 6. Among those who died were Lakeith Shunta Bonner (40), Richard Kevin Meadows (63), Benjamin August Harter (85), and Samuel Dennis Hunt (64).A notable incident intersecting Owens’s watch occurred in January 2026, when a person named Silas Westbrook was transferred to the Metro Reentry Facility. Per GPS intelligence records, Westbrook had been hospitalized with minor injuries following a disturbance at Washington State Prison. Upon arrival at the Metro facility on January 17, 2026, Westbrook suffered a medical emergency and was pronounced dead. Intel records state that the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation into Westbrook’s death, and his body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab for an official determination of cause.
Litigation
- United States v. Beckham — Case No. 2:26-cr-00001, filed January 6, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Per court records, the case remains pending. The defendant is not Owens, but the case appears in the database as associated with his tenure timeline.
Sources
- GPS personnel and death records — attributed 17 deaths at Metro Reentry Facility during Deputy Warden Owens’s tenure.
- GPS intelligence events — documented the Silas Westbrook death investigation and medical emergency upon transfer to Metro Reentry Facility.
- Court records via CourtListener — docketing information for United States v. Beckham (2:26-cr-00001).
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | METRO REENTRY FACILITY | 2024-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2017-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:26-cr-00001 | GASD | 2026-01-06 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-00019 | GASD | 2024-02-16 | pending |
| 1:23-cv-01109 | GAND | 2023-03-14 | pending |
| 2:22-cv-00086 | GASD | 2022-09-06 | terminated |
| 5:21-cr-00003 | GAMD | 2021-01-12 | pending |
| 1:16-cv-00709 | GAND | 2016-03-04 | terminated |
| 6:14-cv-00047 | GASD | 2014-05-19 | terminated |
| 6:13-cv-00115 | GASD | 2013-12-30 | terminated |
| 1:12-cv-00327 | GAND | 2012-01-31 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
17 people died at facilities under Owens, Robert's leadership.
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