Samuel, Chanel Andrea

Tenure Summary

Chanel Andrea Samuel has worked within the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2015, moving from a line correctional officer role at Burruss Correctional Training Center through behavioral health and social services positions before ascending to facility deputy leadership. GPS records show one death attributed to a facility during Samuel's leadership tenure — a homicide at Burruss C.T.C. in February 2025, while she held the Deputy Warden title there. The two civil cases listed as naming Samuel as a defendant are mass-tort multidistrict litigations unrelated to her GDC role and are addressed in the Litigation section below.

What Happened on Their Watch

Burruss Correctional Training Center — Deputy Warden (2025, through at least July 15, 2025)

GPS records show that on February 3, 2025, Tyler Michael Zacher, age 22, died at Burruss C.T.C. The cause category is recorded as homicide. Samuel held the Deputy Warden position at Burruss at the time of Zacher's death. No further details about the circumstances — investigating agency, manner, or any disciplinary or criminal referrals — appear in the records provided to GPS. No lawsuits tied to this death appear in Samuel's litigation record as of the data available.

Contextual note — Metro Reentry Facility (intel events, 2026)

GPS records document a series of events at Metro Reentry Facility in January 2026 involving the death of Silas Westbrook, identified as the fourth inmate to die following a disturbance at Washington State Prison. Westbrook was transferred to Metro Reentry Facility, suffered a medical emergency upon arrival on January 17, 2026, and was pronounced dead. The GDC Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation. Samuel held a Behavioral Health Specialist II role at Metro Reentry Facility in 2017 — nearly a decade before these events — and GPS records do not place her at that facility during the 2026 incidents. These events are noted here for facility context only; no connection to Samuel's current role is established by the available records.

Litigation

• In Re Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation — Case No. 1:20-md-02974, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Filed December 16, 2020. Status: pending as of GPS records. This is a consumer-products multidistrict litigation; no connection to Samuel's GDC duties is established by the available records.
• In Re Equifax Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation — Case No. 1:17-md-02800, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Filed December 6, 2017. Closed April 13, 2022. This is a consumer data-breach multidistrict litigation; no connection to Samuel's GDC duties is established by the available records.

Sources

• GPS records — positions table, deaths-during-tenure table, and intel events for Chanel Andrea Samuel (profile: https://gps.press/intelligence/personnel/samuel-chanel-andrea/)
• GPS intel events — Metro Reentry Facility, January 2026 (Silas Westbrook / Washington State Prison disturbance)
• CourtListener — In Re Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation, docket 44788596
• CourtListener — In Re Equifax Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, docket 6239202

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.