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Sailem, Tiffany C
Status: active
Profile written June 28, 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
Tiffany C. Sailem began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Johnson State Prison in 2006 and later returned to the same facility as a corrections officer in 2015. After serving as a correctional lieutenant (2016–2020) and correctional unit manager (2021–2024) at unspecified GDC facilities, Sailem was promoted to deputy warden at Johnson State Prison in January 2025, and to deputy warden of security in April 2025, a role she held into at least mid-2026. GPS records attribute 25 deaths at Johnson State Prison to Sailem’s tenure as a facility-level deputy leader. During this period, a $4 million settlement closed a lawsuit over the 2021 beating death of David Henegar, a case that had named Sailem as a defendant and drew national attention to long‑standing violence and neglect at the prison.What happened on their watch
All 25 attributed deaths occurred at Johnson State Prison while Sailem served as deputy warden or deputy warden of security from January 2025 onward. The first death recorded under her leadership was Justin Brandon Hulett, 38, on February 12, 2025, classified as a homicide. Over the next seventeen months, 24 more men died. GPS records categorize at least four additional deaths as homicides: Paul Russell Brewster (48) on June 9, 2025; Michael Elias Peschel (36) on March 14, 2026 — who, according to the death notes, suffered 20 stab wounds from a cellmate with a known history of confrontations — and Ernest Perez (62) on June 24, 2026. Martrese Jamon McKay, 30, died on April 18, 2026, classified as a suicide, although a Telegram‑based source cited in the GPS record alleges he “just dropped dead,” contesting the suicide theory. Also among the homicides, Phillip Lamar Byrd (46) was found dead on January 18, 2026; inmate reports relayed by Telegram claim he was beaten repeatedly, locked in the cold, and later forcibly drugged by gang members until he overdosed.Of the remaining deaths, the majority are recorded under cause category 6, which GPS records typically associate with natural or medical causes. The decedents ranged in age from 32 to 86, and their deaths were concentrated in the summer of 2025 (seven deaths in July alone) and again in the spring of 2026. While natural deaths in a prison population may reflect chronic illness, the cluster unfolded as the facility faced documented sanitation and safety failures. On April 10, 2026, GPS reports documented incidents of contaminated food trays and illness among incarcerated people tied to degraded dishwashing infrastructure — a recurrence of a problem that had already led to a failing food‑safety inspection score of 64 out of 100 in December 2023, well before Sailem’s promotion. Although the multi‑hour beating death of David Henegar occurred in October 2021, before Sailem held a deputy position, the lawsuit over that killing — Wade v. Morgan, filed in August 2023 — names Sailem as a defendant, and Atlanta Journal‑Constitution reports of the case allege that officers ignored screams from neighboring prisoners and failed to act on warnings about the violent cellmate. The state settled the case for $4 million in April 2026 while Sailem was deputy warden of security.
Litigation
- Wade v. Morgan, No. 3:23‑cv‑00073, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Filed August 31, 2023; status pending as of the latest court record. The lawsuit relates to the 2021 prison homicide of David Henegar and names Sailem among the defendants. The underlying claims were resolved through a $4 million state settlement in April 2026, although the docket had not yet been closed at the time of this writing.
Sources
- GPS intelligence reports and death records — data aggregating GDC inmate deaths, facility incident logs, and user submissions
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — coverage of Henegar lawsuit, failure‑to‑intervene allegations, and $4 million settlement
- CourtListener / U.S. District Court docket — Wade v. Morgan (3:23‑cv‑00073)
- 13WMAZ — news report on Johnson SP death investigation (referenced in Hulett death notes)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden of Security | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2025-04-01 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2021-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2016-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | JOHNSON STATE PRISON | 2006-01-01 → 2006-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:23-cv-00073 | GASD | 2023-08-31 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
25 people died at facilities under Sailem, Tiffany C's leadership.
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