Sailem, Tiffany C

Tenure Summary

Tiffany C. Sailem's career with the Georgia Department of Corrections runs back two decades at Johnson State Prison. She began there as a Correctional Officer in 2006 and returned as a Corrections Officer (SP) in 2015, at a listed salary of $29,840.40. From 2016 through 2020 she held Correctional Lieutenant posts, and from 2021 through 2024 Correctional Unit Manager posts; the records place her as a Correctional Unit Manager at Johnson State Prison on a November 22, 2023 entry. She returned to Johnson State Prison as Unit Manager from January 1 to March 31, 2025, was listed as Deputy Warden at that facility in the 2025 salary record ($64,998.60), and has held the title Deputy Warden of Security there since April 1, 2025, with an additional Deputy Warden record dated August 27, 2026. She is listed as active.

Per GPS's death registry, 24 deaths are attributed to her leadership tenure, all of them at Johnson State Prison. Of those 24 registry entries, five are recorded as homicide, one as suicide, one as overdose, and the remainder as Unknown/Pending. One lawsuit naming her as a defendant remains pending.

What happened on their watch

Johnson State Prison — Unit Manager (January 1 – March 31, 2025); Deputy Warden of Security (from April 1, 2025)

Every death attributed to Sailem's leadership tenure is recorded at Johnson State Prison and carries the role "Deputy Warden of Security" at the time of death. The registry lists these 24 people:

• Robert Barnwell died May 4, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 80).
• Paul Russell Brewster died June 9, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 48).
• John Charles Rhoten died June 15, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 54).
• Robert Joseph Pruett died June 26, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 61).
• Dewayne Bess died July 10, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 63).
• Joseph Wayne Clayton died July 12, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 32).
• Robert Glenn Tanner died July 15, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 56).
• Justin Haley Freeman died July 20, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 44).
• Russell Scott Carter died July 23, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 42).
• Larry Sherall Richards died July 29, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 86).
• Loy Alpheus III Windham died July 31, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 54).
• Matthew Glenn Maynard died September 14, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 65).
• Jarvis Dontez Walker died September 26, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 39).
• Aubrie Henley died October 5, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 69).
• Roger James died October 29, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 68).
• Marc Charles Neermann died November 2, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 69).
• Calvin R Norwood died December 30, 2025, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 72).
• Phillip Lamar Byrd died January 18, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 46).
• Joseph Lamar Sanders died January 27, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 54).
• Anthony Shivers died February 11, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Overdose (age 41).
• Michael Elias Peschel died March 14, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 36).
• Dale Way died March 28, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 76).
• Martrese Jamon Mckay died April 18, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 30).
• Ernest Perez died June 23, 2026, at Johnson State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 61).

Alongside the deaths, the record carries a cluster of allegations dated inside this tenure. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Antone Hinton-Leonard allegedly hogtied David Henegar and beat and choked him over five hours causing fatal injuries; the AJC also reports allegations that prison officials kept Henegar in custody past his scheduled release date because of an administrative delay, that staff failed to act on repeated prisoner reports about Hinton-Leonard's mental health problems and a prior choking incident a week earlier, and that staff ignored Henegar's screams and calls for help. Hinton-Leonard was charged with murder and was awaiting trial, scheduled for later in April 2026, according to the event record. On April 10, 2026, a source reported to GPS unsanitary food service conditions at Johnson State Prison — trays with visible residue and grime, failed dishwashing systems — with incarcerated people reportedly becoming ill and internal efforts to fix the problem reportedly unsuccessful. A former staff member, in an account published on Tyler C. Ryals' YouTube channel and logged July 20, 2026, described a dangerously understaffed spring 2024 shift in which a use-of-force incident went unreported, and an incarcerated person alleged being restrained and tortured. On June 24, 2026, a social-media report logged by GPS indicated a death at Johnson State Prison, and possibly at Valdosta State Prison, with paramedics responding to remove an individual; the individual's status and identity were unknown. On July 21, 2026, while Sailem was Deputy Warden of Security, GDC held a ribbon-cutting for a new Medical Intensive Infirmary at Johnson State Prison, part of a modular construction program adding 524 beds across several facilities.

Litigation

• Wade v. Morgan, Case No. 3:23-cv-00073, court recorded as GASD, filed August 31, 2023; status pending, no outcome amount recorded. GPS lists Sailem as a defendant. At the time of filing she held a Correctional Unit Manager position; the 2023 salary record lists no facility.
• GPS's intel log records an April 6, 2026 event in which Betty Wade and David Jacob Henegar filed a lawsuit against three corrections officers and a prison manager employed by the state, alleging prison staff could have prevented Henegar's death but failed to protect him. The AJC report linked in that log is headlined that Georgia paid $4 million to end the prisoner's death case on the eve of trial. The log's event date and the Wade v. Morgan filing date differ; GPS does not record them as the same case.

Sources

• Georgia Prisoners' Speak death registry — causes, ages and dates for the 24 deaths at Johnson State Prison during Sailem's Deputy Warden of Security tenure
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — April 6, 2026 report on the Henegar death, the alleged five-hour beating, the missed release date, and the alleged failure to act on warnings
• Tyler C. Ryals (YouTube channel) — former staff account of a spring 2024 shift, logged July 20, 2026
• GPS case submissions — April 10, 2026 food-service allegations; June 24, 2026 death report
• Court records, Wade v. Morgan, 3:23-cv-00073 (GASD), filed August 31, 2023
• Georgia Department of Corrections — July 21, 2026 Medical Intensive Infirmary ribbon-cutting and modular bed expansion

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.