Sales, Timothy Deshaun

Tenure Summary

Timothy Deshaun Sales began his Georgia Department of Corrections career as a Sergeant at Dooly State Prison in 2003, moved to Lieutenant at Rutledge State Prison in 2006, and by 2013 held the Chief of Security post at Macon State Prison. He served at Autry State Prison as CSM Correctional Unit Manager in 2017, returned to Macon as Deputy Warden from 2018 through 2021, spent 2022 as Deputy Warden at Dooly, then became Warden at Dooly State Prison on March 1, 2023. On July 1, 2023 he took the Warden role at Macon State Prison and held it until January 31, 2025. Records also list Warden 3 positions in 2024 and 2025 with no facility named, and a single-day Warden 3 entry at Macon State Prison dated August 27, 2026. His status is active; no status source in the records reports otherwise.

GPS's death registry attributes 54 deaths to his leadership tenures — 46 at Macon State Prison, 8 at Dooly State Prison. Those years produced DOJ findings, a Southern Center for Human Rights conditions lawsuit, a federal wrongful-death lawsuit, and state liability payouts in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger.

What happened on their watch

Dooly State Prison — Warden, March 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 (and Deputy Warden, 2022). Eight deaths are attributed to Dooly during his leadership tenures there. Three occurred while he held the Warden role: Jeremy John Wells died March 5, 2023, at Dooly State Prison; James Michael Bailey died April 8, 2023, at Dooly State Prison; Jared Alexander Hall died June 28, 2023, at Dooly State Prison. Five more fall in his 2022 Deputy Warden year: Richard Lavon Garland died January 1, 2022; Inocente Taboada died March 29, 2022; John Murray died April 14, 2022; Deroski Harris died May 17, 2022; Ralph Scott Clemons died December 24, 2022 — all at Dooly State Prison. Two state liability payouts tied to Dooly (incident year 2023) appear in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger while Sales was Warden: $1,000 for Amos Westmoreland and $3,500 for Thomas Andrew Whittle.

Macon State Prison — Warden, July 1, 2023 to January 31, 2025. Forty-six of the 54 attributed deaths occurred at Macon. In this period the records name, at Macon State Prison:

• Willie A Phillips died October 5, 2023; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending.
• Taurean Dante Hardy died December 10, 2023; registry cause Homicide.
• Benetez Rayun Parker died January 7, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Kenneth Keith Malcom died February 12, 2024; Homicide.
• Jesus Blake Holguin died February 12, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Reginald Lamar Ginn died March 13, 2024; Homicide.
• Rashawn Arki Tyson died March 18, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• James Douglas Talley died April 17, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Devontae Marquez Young died May 10, 2024; Homicide.
• Mathis Lee Ward died June 8, 2024; Homicide.
• Rafael Omar Roland died July 9, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Jarod Quayshawn Williams died July 17, 2024; Homicide.
• Shannon Wayne Pickett died July 21, 2024; Homicide.
• Brian Richard Ranalli died August 20, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Keith Antwone Green died August 30, 2024; Homicide.
• Darrell Brent Dasher died November 3, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Johnathan Douglas Vann died November 20, 2024; Homicide.
• Demetrius Marcus Jernigan died November 22, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Jimmy L Jones died December 7, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• Antony Carnell Knight died December 10, 2024; Homicide.
• Jekari Oshay Strozier died December 14, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• William Louise Wilson died December 28, 2024; Unknown/Pending.
• James McDougal died January 16, 2025; Unknown/Pending.
• Jonathan Mitchell died January 21, 2025; Homicide.
• David Gill died January 30, 2025; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.

The larger pattern is statewide and documented: GDC investigated 66 prisoner deaths deemed homicides in 2024, with a record 332 total prisoner deaths, up about 27% from the prior year, per the death records underlying these events. On January 1, 2025, citing consultant findings, Gov. Brian Kemp proposed $600 million over 18 months for staffing, emergency repairs and infrastructure in Georgia prisons. The AJC reported allegations during this tenure at Macon: that the DOJ found four gang members ran past an officer into the kitchen area and fatally stabbed a prisoner; that Kendrick Malik Brown's mother alleged he was placed in a cell with a prisoner known to be dangerous shortly before his scheduled release; that Carrington Juwon Frye's mother told Georgia lawmakers her son bled more than half an hour after being stabbed before help arrived; and that Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by a cellmate who was a convicted murderer. Henry Finley died January 18, 2025, after being stabbed at Macon State Prison, confirmed by coroner Eddie T. Hosley. Christian Krauch was found with severe injuries — brain bleeds, broken ribs, slashed feet, cigarette burns and a necrotic wound — described in the records as torture over a three-week period.

Earlier Macon tenures are also recorded: as Deputy Warden (2018–2021) he was in the role when Bobby Edward Lee Jr. died July 13, 2020, Coty Dustin Silvers died May 23, 2020, Carrington Juwon Frye died March 20, 2020, Carlos Maurice Fisher Jr. died May 10, 2021, and Ryan Weston Darville died December 29, 2021, among others. As Chief of Security (2013), the GA DOAS ledger shows payouts at Macon of $50,000 (William Stoner) and $5,000 (Willie Frank Wright).

Litigation

• Federal lawsuit over the death of Bobby Edward Lee Jr., filed January 21, 2025 — alleges Lee was strangled by his convicted-murderer cellmate and blames understaffing and indifference by prison officials. (Filed while Sales was Warden at Macon.)
• Southern Center for Human Rights lawsuits against Macon State Prison, filed January 24, 2025 by Sarah Geraghty and others — overcrowding, inadequate bedding and hygiene, with 96 inmates sharing a single toilet.
• State liability settlements recorded in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger during his tenures: $1,375,000 (Bobby Edward Lee, 2020), $750,000 (Coty Silvers, 2020), $98,000 (Javante Harris-Evans, 2021), $450 (Frank Gillis, 2021), $50,000 and $5,000 (2013), $1,000 and $3,500 (Dooly, 2023).

No lawsuit naming Sales personally as a defendant appears in these records.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicide list and investigations reporting; family allegations and DOJ findings cited to Macon State Prison
• U.S. Department of Justice report, as summarized in AJC reporting — kitchen-area stabbing finding
• Southern Center for Human Rights (Sarah Geraghty) — January 24, 2025 lawsuits over conditions at Macon State Prison
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — state liability payouts at Macon and Dooly
• Georgia Department of Corrections death records and death certificates — causes and dates of the deaths listed above
• Federal court filing, January 21, 2025 — wrongful-death claims in the death of Bobby Edward Lee Jr.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 27, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.