Peoples, Delvin Rasaunn

Tenure Summary

Delvin Rasaunn Peoples entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Lee State Prison in 2006, returned there as an officer in 2015, and served as a correctional lieutenant in 2016 and 2017. He was assistant superintendent at McEver Probation Detention Center in 2018, correctional superintendent at Calhoun State Prison in 2019, and deputy warden at Calhoun from 2020 through August 31, 2024. In September 2024 he moved to Macon State Prison as Special Assistant to the Warden, was deputy warden there in 2025, and has held the warden's post since January 16, 2026.

GPS attributes 51 deaths to his facility-leadership tenures — 19 at Calhoun State Prison and 32 at Macon State Prison. He is a named defendant in a federal lawsuit filed in March 2025 that remains pending. State liability payouts recorded against Calhoun State Prison include $3,250,000 to Reginald Jacobs Sr. for the Estate of Reginald Jacobs Jr. (2023 incident) and $998,715.12 to Angel M. Ortiz (2019 incident), per the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records.

What happened on their watch

Calhoun State Prison — Correctional Superintendent (2019), then Deputy Warden (2020 – Aug. 31, 2024). The 19 deaths GPS attributes to his Calhoun tenures include DaQuavious Lackey, 21, who died May 16, 2022, of a stab wound to the neck and blunt force injuries; the DOJ report found staff failed to follow procedures when moving his assailant, and a separate 2022 homicide at the prison followed staff moving an assailant through segregation and general population without following classification procedures. Kenneth Piper, 37, was killed in an inmate-to-inmate assault on May 4, 2024, per incident report data, and Gonzalo Colmenero, 54, died July 17, 2024, following an inmate-to-inmate assault. Martel Dorsey was stabbed by other prisoners; GDC told a TV station that witnesses saw him run out of a dorm as he was chased. A separate 2023 record describes a 24-year-old prisoner dying of dehydration with renal failure after staff cut off his food and water. In 2019, officer Temperess Johnson was caught attempting to smuggle eight cellphones and 2.6 pounds of methamphetamine in a GDC van and was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Macon State Prison — Special Assistant to the Warden (from Sept. 1, 2024; no end date given).

Macon State Prison — Deputy Warden (2025). The 32 deaths GPS attributes to Macon fall across his deputy-warden and warden years. The AJC reported that about two-thirds of correctional officer jobs at Macon were unfilled as of October 2024, that the coroner saw only five to eight officers staffing the entire facility when responding to deaths, and that a January 2025 federal lawsuit by the Southern Center for Human Rights documented 96 inmates sharing a single toilet. The AJC also reported a federal lawsuit alleging Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by his cellmate and blaming understaffing and official indifference, and family accounts that Carrington Juwon Frye bled more than half an hour before help arrived and that Sanchez Jackson's family received only a brief call from the warden. Gregory Sampson became warden on Feb. 1, 2025.

Deaths at Macon during this posting, per GPS's registry:

• John Austin Mitchell died April 23, 2025, at Macon State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending, age 50.
• Marion Washington died May 16, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 61.
• Douglas Wayne Medearis died May 19, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 50.
• Cornelius Lee Mason died May 20, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 64.
• Terell Rasheen Everett died May 22, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 35.
• Sanchez Jackson died June 19, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Homicide, age 48.
• Lukas Lance Way died June 22, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Homicide, age 32.
• Niko Lamar Swann died June 27, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 36.
• Xavier Anthony Adams died July 22, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Homicide, age 40.
• Pierre Cedric Scott died August 22, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Homicide, age 41.
• Cassiem Mahlon Johnson died August 25, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Suicide, age 55.
• Calvin Earl Noble died August 26, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Suicide, age 25.
• Clifton B Boston died August 26, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 67.
• Gary Simpson died October 8, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 63.
• Marquis Young died October 22, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Homicide, age 37.
• Michael Tony Cooper died November 20, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 73.
• Randall Allen Cleveland died November 30, 2025, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 77.

Macon State Prison — Warden (from Jan. 16, 2026). During this posting:

• Eric Roberts died February 9, 2026, at Macon State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide, age 33. GDC's Office of Professional Standards investigated, and reporting at the time described no signs of foul play and an undetermined cause.
• Allan Sharpe died April 10, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 69.
• Anthony Williams died May 2, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 60.
• Brett Michael Scudder died June 20, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 37.
• Tony Horne died August 20, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending, age 48.
• Juld Gerald Carter died October 21, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Homicide. GDC said it investigated the death as a homicide and sent the body to the GBI crime lab.
• Veasna Johnathan Bun died October 22, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending.
• John Doe died October 23, 2026, at Macon State Prison; Unknown/Pending.

Reports relayed from inside in October 2026 described three killings in two days, an emergency response team escorting people for interviews, a body reportedly under a bunk for days, and — in a message that did not name the facility — a victim reportedly restrained for days, stabbed, and set on fire. Other 2026 items from Macon include a stabbing in which the victim survived, segregation inmates climbing onto a roof, four officers arrested on charges of violating their oath and providing false statements, and federal drug-trafficking prosecutions of inmates Devito Duran Young (327 months) and Trace Davrin Works (262 months), plus a guilty plea by Andreaus Benard Oliver Sr.

Litigation

• Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 4:25-cv-00111 (GAMD), filed March 26, 2025; status pending. Peoples is listed as a defendant.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — 2025 homicide coverage and listing of Georgia prison deaths; reporting on staffing vacancies, the October 2024 DOJ findings, and Macon State Prison conditions
• U.S. Department of Justice report (October 2024) — findings on Calhoun and Georgia prison conditions
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Jacobs, Ortiz and Brantley payouts
• CourtListener docket — Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections
• 13WMAZ — drug-trafficking pleas tied to Macon State Prison
• CBS News — Rodney Edward Smith fraud case
• GPS case submissions and Telegram-relayed inside reports — October 2026 Macon incidents
• FTP Nest Collaborative — Macon State Prison officer arrests

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Nov 1, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.