Pineiro, Aaron Thomas

Tenure Summary

Aaron Thomas Pineiro's state personnel records trace a GDC career that began as a correctional officer at Valdosta State Prison in 2007, moved through behavioral-health counseling posts at Valdosta (2015) and Georgia State Prison (2016), and then into custody leadership. He was deputy warden at Georgia State Prison in 2017 and 2018, deputy warden at Valdosta State Prison from 2019 through 2021, Warden 1 and then Warden 2 at Coastal State Prison across 2022 and 2023, and warden at Phillips State Prison beginning in 2024, with records listing him in a warden role at Phillips into July 2026. His status is active.

GPS attributes 85 deaths to facilities during Pineiro's leadership tenures: 40 at Coastal State Prison, 33 at Phillips State Prison and 12 at Valdosta State Prison. Nine federal lawsuits naming him as a defendant appear on the dockets cited below, most still pending. Entries in the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger, cited by GPS, sum to $836,358.43 in liability payouts tied to those three facilities at the roles and dates documented.

What happened on their watch

Georgia State Prison — behavioral health counselor supervisor (2016), deputy warden (2017–2018). GPS attributes no deaths to this posting. The settlement ledger records four payouts tied to Georgia State Prison while Pineiro held the deputy warden role: $1,000 (Kelton Alston, incident 2018), $8,408.43 (Sue Hobbs, incident 2018), $7,500 (Quonterious Toles, incident 2018) and $115,000 (Seth Rouzan, incident 2018). Records also note that Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. was moved to the Special Management Unit from Georgia State Prison in 2018, after Fulton County prosecutors charged him with ordering a shooting that left a 36-year-old Atlanta man paralyzed from the waist down.

Valdosta State Prison — correctional officer (2007), behavioral health counselor (2015), deputy warden (2019–2021). Twelve deaths are attributed to this tenure. Among them, the death records of Prince Leonard Blige, 54, who died February 12, 2020 from a stab wound to the torso; Orvonta Tillman, 36, who died June 16, 2020 from multiple sharp-force penetrating trauma to the thorax; and Bobby Carpenter, 31, who died September 9, 2020 from a stab wound to the chest. A $60,000 state liability payout (Terry Berrian, incident 2021) is tied to the prison, and the ledger shows seven smaller 2019 payouts while he was deputy warden: Reginald E. Grimes ($1,550 and $3,500), Corey King ($15,000), Otis Redmon ($6,500), Kendrick Martin ($5,000), Brandon Edward Herndon ($1,500) and Christopher D. Beal ($3,400).

Coastal State Prison — Warden (2022–2024). Forty deaths are attributed here. Registry entries include Ryan Chase Archer, 25, who died December 13, 2023 from a stab wound to the chest after a fight with other prisoners and was due for release in 2024; Salomon Andres Ramirez, 43, who died October 20, 2023 in a death GDC classified as an apparent homicide with no cause of death or death certificate available; and Raymond Littles, 49, who died April 16, 2024 in an incident classified as a homicide, with another prisoner disciplined. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation found Georgia prisons, including Coastal State, failing to protect inmates from violence and neglect and concluded GDC violates the Eighth Amendment. Ledger payouts tied to Coastal are $600,000 (Dennis Carpenter, incident 2022, logged when Pineiro was Warden 1) and $8,000 (Ronald Ray Agan, incident 2023).

Phillips State Prison — warden (2024–2026). Thirty-three deaths are attributed to this tenure. David Fambro, 69, died July 24, 2024 from complications of facial fractures after a 26-day interval, which incident report data show as a homicide. Reporting in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (January 21, 2025) describes two alleged assaults: Dave Stone was allegedly assaulted in a mental health ward, apparently with two pipes wrapped in cloth, resulting in brain death; and officers allegedly arranged for McBride to be brought to the lockdown unit on the day he was killed in a gang-related stabbing. A separate 2026 allegation describes a 2025 serious stabbing in a dormitory that had previously been safe and turned violent after incarcerated veterans were transferred and recreational materials removed. Other items logged against this facility during his tenure include a prisoner killed April 6, 2025, segregation and food/phone denial allegations involving Jason Palmer, and parole-process developments involving Janice Buttrum in March 2026.

GPS's death registry lists the following people as having died at Phillips State Prison during Pineiro's warden tenure:

• Jacob Ray Nicholson died July 13, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 29.
• Richard L Thatcher died May 3, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 58.
• Rickie Lynn Rutherford died April 18, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. She was 41.
• Cornelius Burge died February 11, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 42.
• Rodger Scales died February 9, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 40.
• Willie Roseborough died January 13, 2026, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 54.
• Justin Curtis Kinsey died November 8, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Accident. He was 37.
• Terry Nichols died October 14, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 42.
• Alonzo Jr Carter died September 20, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 78.
• Kendrick Keon Scales died August 27, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Overdose. He was 35.
• Joseph Ulrich died June 1, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 30.
• John Dean Tolbert died May 4, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 69.
• Taron Edmonds died March 31, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 32.
• Christopher Blake Hines died March 24, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 37.
• Jerry Wayne Spencer died March 10, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 58.
• Harry Ray Taldon died February 22, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 57.
• Tommye Mobley died February 14, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. She was 45.
• Ricky Ray Breedlove died February 7, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 71.
• Thomas Nicely died January 23, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Shun Pinkston died January 18, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• William Pate died January 14, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Jody Stokes died January 13, 2025, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Eddie Ray Scott died December 19, 2024, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 60.
• Corey Madison Cochran died December 18, 2024, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 29.
• Leroy Brooks died December 9, 2024, at Phillips State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 64.

Litigation

• Young v. Smith, 6:17-cv-00131 (GASD), filed October 2, 2017; terminated March 16, 2021. No outcome amount recorded.
• Mosley v. Caraviello, 6:19-cv-00100 (GASD), filed November 4, 2019; terminated May 6, 2021. No outcome amount recorded.
• Daker v. Ward, 7:20-cv-00113 (GAMD), filed June 11, 2020; terminated November 3, 2021. No outcome amount recorded.
• Brewer v. Chambers, 4:22-cv-00264 (GASD), filed November 9, 2022; terminated July 25, 2024. No outcome amount recorded.
• Browner v. Brown, 4:23-cv-00167 (GASD), filed June 21, 2023; pending.
• Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 1:23-cv-05578 (GAND), filed December 6, 2023; pending.
• Patrick v. Moore, 4:24-cv-00242 (GASD), filed October 24, 2024; pending.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191 (GAND), filed June 6, 2025; terminated March 30, 2026.
• Mckenzie v. Oliver, 4:26-cv-00108 (GAND), filed April 28, 2026; pending.

Sources

• Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — liability payouts at Valdosta, Georgia State, Coastal and Phillips.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicides list and the January 21, 2025 accounts of the Stone and McBride deaths at Phillips State Prison.
• U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 investigation into Georgia prison conditions, including Coastal State Prison.
• CourtListener federal dockets — the nine cases above (Young v. Smith; Mosley v. Caraviello; Daker v. Ward; Brewer v. Chambers; Browner v. Brown; Doe v. Georgia Department of Corrections; Patrick v. Moore; Daker v. Oliver; Mckenzie v. Oliver).
• GPS intelligence records and death registry — decedent names, dates, facilities and listed causes.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 11, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.