Peoples, Delvin Rasaunn

Tenure Summary

Delvin Rasaunn Peoples began his GDC career as a correctional officer at Lee State Prison in 2006, returned to Lee in 2015, and served as a correctional lieutenant in 2016–2017. He moved into facility administration as assistant superintendent at McEver Probation Detention Center (2018), then correctional superintendent at Calhoun State Prison (2019), deputy warden at Calhoun (January 2020 – August 31, 2024), and — from September 1, 2024 — special assistant to the warden at Macon State Prison, deputy warden there in 2025, and warden from January 16, 2026.

Records attribute 47 deaths to facilities during his leadership tenures: 19 at Calhoun State Prison and 28 at Macon State Prison. One lawsuit naming him as a defendant is pending. Georgia's risk-management settlement ledger records state liability payouts tied to Calhoun incidents ranging from $1,400 to $3.25 million. No published report in the records names Peoples directly.

What happened on their watch

Lee State Prison (correctional officer, 2006 and 2015); correctional lieutenant (2016–2017, no facility listed). Non-leadership postings; the 47 attributed deaths are distributed only between Calhoun and Macon.

McEver Probation Detention Center — assistant superintendent (2018). No death-attribution record names this facility.

Calhoun State Prison — correctional superintendent (2019). Records tie a $998,715.12 state liability payout to Calhoun for a 2019 incident (Angel M. Ortiz), per the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger, and record the arrest of Calhoun officer Temperess Johnson, caught attempting to smuggle eight cellphones and 2.6 pounds of methamphetamine in a GDC van; she received five years in federal prison.

Calhoun State Prison — deputy warden (January 2020 – August 31, 2024). Nineteen deaths are attributed to Calhoun. Dated records run from Johnny Frank White (63, April 26, 2020) to William Dutton Maddox (62, August 1, 2024), with ages from 21 to 81. DaQuavious Cachone Lackey, 21, died May 16, 2022 of a stab wound to the neck and blunt-force injuries; the DOJ report found he was killed after staff failed to follow procedures when moving his assailant, leaving Lackey beaten by his cellmate with a fan motor in a net bag. Records also describe a 2022 Calhoun homicide following classification-procedure failures, and the January 2023 death of a 24-year-old prisoner from dehydration with renal failure after staff cut off his food and water. Reginald Jacobs Jr., 24, died February 6, 2023; the state paid $3,250,000 to Reginald Jacobs Sr. for his estate, and a $1,400 payout is recorded for Lasharon Brantley (2020 incident). Martel Dorsey, 34, was stabbed in October 2023; GDC told a TV station that witnesses saw him chased from a dorm.

Macon State Prison — special assistant to the warden (from Sept. 1, 2024) and deputy warden (2025). Twenty-eight deaths are attributed to Macon; dated records span January 16, 2025 to June 20, 2026, most in 2025 when his role is recorded as deputy warden. Named decedents include James McDougal (Jan. 16, 2025), Jonathan Mitchell (Jan. 21, 2025 — the AJC reports he was beaten by fellow prisoner Jon Edward Pippin with “foot, knee and fist”), David Gill (Jan. 30, 2025), Marquel Smith (29, Feb. 14, 2025) and Sanchez Jackson (48, June 19, 2025). The AJC reported in September 2025 that Jackson’s family received only a brief call from the warden and that an investigator gave “short and vague” answers; Jackson’s sister said he described up to four men packed into one cell. AJC reporting in March 2025 said about two-thirds of Macon officer jobs were unfilled as of October 2024, that the coroner reported only five to eight officers staffing the facility when responding to deaths, and that low staffing let gangs exert influence. A January 2025 DOJ-cited incident describes four gang members running past an officer to fatally stab a prisoner in the kitchen area; the Southern Center for Human Rights filed suit that month over crowding and hygiene, including 96 inmates sharing a single toilet.

Macon State Prison — warden (from January 16, 2026). Four 2026 deaths: Eric Roberts (33, Feb. 9), Allan Sharpe (69, April 10), Anthony Williams (60, May 2) and Brett Michael Scudder (37, June 20). Records state Roberts died with no reports of altercation and no signs of foul play; cause undetermined, body sent to the GBI crime lab, with a GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation ongoing. Also in 2026: four officers were arrested for violating their oath and providing false statements; inmates pleaded guilty to running drug trafficking from the facility via contraband phones (sentences of 262 and 327 months in July 2026); and an inmate was extradited to Florida over an alleged hunting-lease fraud scheme.

Litigation

• Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 4:25-cv-00111, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (GAMD), filed March 26, 2025 — status pending; Peoples is named as a defendant.
• DOAS Risk Management settlement payouts tied to Calhoun State Prison during his leadership: $998,715.12 (Angel M. Ortiz, 2019 incident, superintendent tenure); $1,400 (Lasharon Brantley, 2020 incident); $3,250,000 (Reginald Jacobs Sr., for the estate of Reginald Jacobs Jr., 2023 incident). These are state liability payouts, not judgments against Peoples.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicide and conditions reporting (Jan. 21, 2025; Mar. 31, 2025; Sept. 16, 2025) on Macon State Prison deaths, staffing and the Mitchell killing.
• U.S. Department of Justice — October 2024 findings on Georgia prison conditions, as cited in AJC coverage and facility records; cited findings on the 2022 Calhoun deaths.
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management Division — settlement ledger (open records): Ortiz, Brantley and Jacobs payouts.
• CourtListener — docket for Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 4:25-cv-00111.
• CBS News Miami — Rodney Edward Smith hunting-lease fraud allegations at Macon.
• 13WMAZ — Macon State Prison drug-trafficking pleas and sentencings.
• Nest Collaborative — Macon State Prison news item on four officers arrested.
• Southern Center for Human Rights — January 2025 Macon filings (via facility event records).
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — ongoing investigation into Eric Roberts’s death.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.