Smith, Tarmarshe A

Tenure Summary

Tarmarshe A. Smith began a GDC career as a correctional officer at Georgia State Prison in 2002, rose through administrative and deputy-warden ranks, and held facility-lead (warden) postings continuously from 2019 through mid-2023. GPS records show 36 deaths attributed to facilities during Smith's tenure as a facility-lead — all at Macon State Prison, where Smith served as Warden 1 (2020) and then Warden 3 (2021–June 2023). Of those 36 deaths, at least 14 are classified as homicides (cause category 3) and identified by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation as resulting from stabbings, blunt-force trauma, ligature strangulation, and asphyxia. Since mid-2023 Smith has held regional leadership roles, most recently Southeast Regional Director as of October 2025. Ten federal civil lawsuits name Smith as a defendant, spanning 2018 through 2026; none show a recorded settlement amount in GPS records.

What happened on their watch

Smith State Prison — Deputy Warden (2016–2017)
Smith held the Deputy Warden role at Smith State Prison across 2016 and 2017. GPS records attribute no deaths directly to Smith's deputy tenure there. However, intel reports associated with Smith State Prison document a range of systemic allegations that overlap the broader period: according to the AJC, the facility was alleged to be one of the most understaffed in the state system, with roughly two-thirds of correctional officer positions unfilled; a former officer alleged the back gate lacked a metal detector; and the AJC reported that inmate Nathan Weekes allegedly orchestrated murders and a large contraband scheme from inside the prison, with the then-warden (identified in AJC reporting as Brian Adams) charged with criminal wrongdoing for allegedly accepting cash payments tied to that scheme. A separate AJC investigation alleged that inmates including Ricardo Silva and Chad Ashley Allen ran drug-trafficking operations from within the facility. These events are attributed to the facility broadly; GPS records do not place Smith personally in any of these allegations.

Calhoun State Prison — Deputy Warden (2018) / Warden 1 (2019)
Smith served as Deputy Warden at Calhoun State Prison in 2018 and was promoted to Warden 1 there in 2019. GPS records attribute no deaths to Smith's tenure at Calhoun. Intel reports tied to the facility include an AJC allegation that a DOJ report found staff failed to follow procedures when moving an assailant between segregation and general population, leading to a prisoner being housed with and killed by his cellmate; a separate AJC allegation that prison staff cut off a prisoner's food and water as retaliation, leading to death from dehydration and renal failure; and an AJC report that inmate Edwin Murillo allegedly ordered a murder from inside the facility. GPS records do not link Smith by name to any of these specific allegations.

Macon State Prison — Warden 1 (2020) / Warden 3 (2021–June 2023)
Smith held the top leadership post at Macon State Prison from January 2020 through June 2023 — a span of approximately three and a half years. GPS records attribute 36 deaths to this tenure. Fourteen are classified as homicides per AJC investigation data:

• 2020: Johnny Young (24, sharp force injury to mouth/tongue, Jan. 27); Rafael Becerra Blass (36, stab wounds to upper torso, Mar. 7); Carrington Jwon Frye (23, stab wounds to neck and chest, Mar. 20); David Travis Dennis (34, multiple sharp force injuries, May 13); Cody Dustin Silvers (39, asphyxia, May 23); Bobby Edward Lee (38, ligature strangulation, Jul. 13); Robbie Lee Brower (58, blunt and sharp force injuries to head and neck, Oct. 4); Raul Villegas (37, stab wound to torso, Dec. 13).
• 2021: Carlos Maurice Fisher (30, multiple sharp force injuries, May 10); Ryan Weston Darville (37, stab wounds to chest, Dec. 29).
• 2022: Joseph Walter Brown (36, multiple stab wounds, Jul. 26); Dan Brooks (50, stab wound of the neck, Aug. 21); Kendrick Milike Brown (25, blunt force head injury, Oct. 16); James Cornelius McLeroy (26, stab wounds to torso, Dec. 19).
• 2023: Carlos Sabino Ramos (34, multiple stab wounds, Mar. 22).

The remaining 22 deaths carry cause category 6 (cause not specified in GPS records) and span ages 23 to 75.

Intel reports tied to Macon during this period include several specific allegations: the AJC reported that Carrington Frye's mother alleged her son bled for more than half an hour before help arrived after being stabbed; the AJC reported that a federal lawsuit alleges Bobby Edward Lee Jr. was strangled by a cellmate convicted of murder due to understaffing and indifference by prison officials, and separately that officials placed Lee in that cell despite his pleas for protection; the AJC reported that Kendrick Brown's mother alleged he was placed with a prisoner known to be dangerous shortly before his scheduled release; and the AJC reported that a DOJ report found four gang members ran past an officer to fatally stab a prisoner, indicating a failure to prevent the assault. An AJC report also alleged that as many as four men were packed into one Macon cell, rotating spots just to sleep, per a prisoner's account to his sister. GPS intel events further document that in 2024 — after Smith's departure — Macon continued to record homicides and a reported incident in which inmate Glen Christian Krauch was allegedly tortured and left under a bunk for three weeks.

Litigation

• Gilmore v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 6:18-cv-00115, GASD — filed Nov. 20, 2018; terminated Jan. 20, 2023. No outcome amount recorded.
• Whiting v. Tarmarshe Smith, 1:21-cv-00973, GAND — filed Mar. 8, 2021; terminated Sep. 2, 2021. No outcome amount recorded.
• Clayton v. Ward, 1:21-cv-00025, GAMD — filed Jan. 29, 2021; terminated Feb. 11, 2022. No outcome amount recorded.
• Cox v. Ward, 5:22-cv-00008, GAMD — filed Jan. 5, 2022; terminated Aug. 10, 2023. No outcome amount recorded.
• Gillis v. Saldana, 5:22-cv-00177, GAMD — filed May 9, 2022; terminated Dec. 26, 2024. No outcome amount recorded.
• Clark v. Troutman, 5:22-cv-00253, GAMD — filed Jul. 12, 2022; terminated Sep. 5, 2023. No outcome amount recorded.
• Tucker v. Wellpath LLC, 5:24-cv-00215, GAMD — filed Jul. 3, 2024; pending. No outcome amount recorded.
• Tucker v. Holt, 5:24-cv-00360, GAMD — filed Oct. 16, 2024; terminated Jun. 11, 2025. No outcome amount recorded.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, 1:25-cv-03191, GAND — filed Jun. 6, 2025; terminated Mar. 30, 2026. No outcome amount recorded.
• Mckenzie v. Oliver, 4:26-cv-00108, GAND — filed Apr. 28, 2026; pending. No outcome amount recorded.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (cause-of-death data for 14 homicides at Macon State Prison during Smith's tenure)
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Smith State Prison contraband, understaffing, Nathan Weekes scheme, and Brian Adams allegations
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Calhoun State Prison DOJ findings, staff procedure failures, and contraband cell phone fraud operation
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Bobby Edward Lee Jr. lawsuit and prison system failure settlements
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Macon State Prison overcrowding and family allegations (Frye, Lee, Brown)
• The Marshall Project — reporting on GDC understaffing, overtime, and conditions at Smith State Prison
• In These Times — reporting on Georgia prison strike allegations at Smith State Prison
• Solitary Watch — reporting on 2010 Georgia prison strike and Macon State Prison conditions
• The Georgia Virtue — reporting on Georgia State Prison conditions and Warden James Deal allegations
• CourtListener / federal court records — ten civil cases naming Smith as defendant, GAND / GAMD / GASD, 2018–2026
• GPS records — positions table, deaths-during-tenure table, intel events at Macon State Prison and Calhoun State Prison

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.