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Scott-Gist, Laura C
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 2026
Salary
$79,319
2025 · state payroll
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
Laura C. Scott-Gist began working for the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2017, holding a series of staff‑level roles—first in training and development, then as an education program specialist, and later as a behavioral health counselor. In 2022 she moved into a facility‑leadership position, becoming Correctional Assistant Superintendent at Helms Facility, a medical‑services prison. She has held that deputy‑tier role continuously through the most recent records. GPS records attribute six deaths to Helms Facility during Scott‑Gist’s tenure as assistant superintendent. No lawsuits naming her as a defendant or intelligence reports concerning her time at Helms have been identified.What happened on their watch
All six deaths occurred at Helms Facility while Scott-Gist served as Correctional Assistant Superintendent. The decedents ranged in age from 56 to 66. Three deaths have been classified by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner as natural: Mitchell Lebron Dunn, 60, died on January 26, 2022, of lung cancer; Frank Eugene Huffman, 66, died on April 23, 2023, of cardiac arrest in the setting of cirrhosis, liver cell carcinoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary artery disease—he had been transferred from another prison to Helms for medical care as his health declined; and James Michael Stafford, 59, died on July 20, 2023, due to a gastrointestinal bleed in the context of hepatitis and liver cancer, after being found unresponsive. The three remaining deaths are listed with a cause category that offers no further detail: Kenneth Clyde, 65, died on February 25, 2022; Walton Jerome Thomas, 56, died on June 26, 2022; and Robert Lee Hines, 63, died on May 17, 2023. All deaths took place inside a facility designated for medical services, and the available documentation reflects an older population with serious, often terminal, illnesses.Sources
- GPS records: personnel position history and death‑attribution data
- DeKalb County Medical Examiner case files 22‑0216 (Dunn), 23‑0770 (Huffman), 23‑1277 (Stafford)
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT | HELMS FACILITY | 2022-01-01 → present |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR 2 | 2020-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | |
| EDUCATION PRGM SPEC 3 | 2018-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | |
| TRAINING & DEV SPEC 3 | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
6 people died at facilities under Scott-Gist, Laura C's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-07-20 | JAMES MICHAEL STAFFORD | 59 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
| 2023-05-17 | ROBERT LEE HINES | 63 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
| 2023-04-23 | FRANK EUGENE HUFFMAN | 66 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
| 2022-06-26 | WALTON JEROME THOMAS | 56 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
| 2022-02-25 | KENNETH CLYDE | 65 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
| 2022-01-26 | MITCHELL LEBRON DUNN | 60 | HELMS FACILITY | CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT |
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