Spann, James Clarence

Tenure Summary

James Clarence Spann's positions in GPS records trace a two-decade rise through the Georgia Department of Corrections: counselor at Autry State Prison (2004), chief counselor at Calhoun State Prison (2009), behavioral-health counselor at Wilcox State Prison (2015), deputy warden at Wilcox (2016–2019), deputy warden at Autry (2020), warden at Burruss Correctional Training Center (2021–2022), warden at Lee State Prison (2023 into 2024), and warden at Ware State Prison from 2024. GPS records list overlapping leadership entries in 2024 — WARDEN 1 at Ware from January 1, 2024, and Warden at Lee through December 31, 2024 — with the Ware Warden title dated from October 16, 2024 and WARDEN 3 in 2025. His earlier counselor posts carry no deaths in GPS records.

GPS records attribute 40 deaths to facilities during his leadership tenures: Ware State Prison, 29; Autry State Prison, 8; Lee State Prison, 2; Burruss C.T.C, 1. No lawsuit naming Spann as a defendant appears in GPS records.

What happened on their watch

Autry State Prison — Deputy Warden (2020): 8 deaths. They are Cordell James Shipman (22), Darren Nicholas Wehrle (32), Mark Ramos (59), Dennis Lee Hammons (62), James Mitchell Blankenship (67), Willie J Bell (68), Thomas Edward White (75) and Richard Office (80). Seven are coded "Natural" in GDC's own classification, which UCLA Law's Behind Bars Data Project obtained through an open-records request covering 2015–2021 — the Department's coding, not an autopsy finding. Ramos's cause is unrecorded.

Burruss C.T.C — Warden (2021–2022): 1 death. Robert Carey Seymour, 58, died March 9, 2022; GPS records carry no cause.

Lee State Prison — Warden (2023–2024): 2 deaths. Christopher Aaron Godfrey (40, January 16, 2024) and Daniel Emmett Ivey (26, February 15, 2024), both recorded with cause unknown or pending.

Ware State Prison — Warden (2024–present): 29 deaths, spanning October 2024 through July 2026 in GPS records. Seven carry a Ware County Coroner homicide finding: David Renfro (43, October 16, 2024; multiple blunt and sharp force injuries with ligature strangulation), Scott Lee Hullander (53, December 31, 2024; multiple sharp-force injuries), Christopher Allen Barrett (46, December 1, 2025; multiple sharp-force injuries and blunt head impact, with a cellmate admitting the assault and a pipe and knife recovered), Christopher Henry (48, February 12, 2026; blunt force injuries including strangulation), Anthony Terrell Grover (25, May 11, 2026; multiple sharp-force injuries), Justin Dean Pulley (48, May 20, 2026; blunt force injuries and ligature strangulation), and Kojack Junior Thomas (27, May 31, 2026; blunt head trauma and ligature asphyxia; GDC's Office of Professional Standards is investigating per GPS records). Two further deaths were certified undetermined by the GBI — Ted Daniel Karras (67, December 20, 2024) and Charles Johnny Rice (62, April 27, 2025) — with autopsies stating homicidal strangulation or smothering could not be excluded. GPS has classified both as homicide as its own assessment; that reading is not a medical-examiner finding.

Four Ware deaths are recorded as coroner-certified suicides: Antonio Leon Moses (46, March 2025), Dakota Lee Duffin (29, July 2025), Marty Shawn Wright (49, November 2025; exsanguination from sharp-force injuries) and Johnathan Cleo Hardman-Simmons (36, May 2026; apparent ligature hanging, autopsy pending), whom GPS records identify as the named perpetrator of Henry's February 2026 homicide. Two deaths were ruled accidental drug intoxications — Barry Lynn Rutherford (36, May 2025; acute methamphetamine intoxication) and Lon Taylor Willbanks (31, April 2025; synthetic cannabinoid). Several decedents were certified natural, and a cluster remains without determined cause: Jose Hervert Vazquez (53, September 2025), Matias Elijaone Evans (28, August 2025), and Reberto Baez (69), David Miller Newman (60) and David Randolph Newcomer (85), all July 2026.

Context: the AJC reported ten inmates killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024 — a window mostly predating Spann's listed Ware tenure. A DOJ investigation, as reported by WALB and Georgia Public Broadcasting, alleged Georgia deliberately underreports prison homicides, logging internally identified homicides as "unknown" in official mortality data, and found EMS responses delayed roughly 30 minutes on average. GPS records do not establish that any individual death on this watch was misclassified. A GPB report dated October 1, 2024 quotes Narissa Wright alleging no counts or welfare checks were conducted at Ware, allowing her son's body to go undiscovered for days. GPS incident records list a Ware riot and punitive lockdown on July 12, 2025, and a July 2026 contraband seizure headed for the prison. GPS also records that GBI's forensic division declined to examine three Ware deaths (Motin, McClarin, Humphrey); those declination letters state neither cause nor manner and cannot be audited from the document.

No deaths are attributed to Spann's Wilcox tenure in GPS records; an AJC allegation cited by GPS states that James Wheeler, found hanging there in October 2017 during that tenure, was placed in solitary after officials failed to recognize his mental-health disease despite a history of self-harm, with $750,000 listed in GPS records in connection with the case.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison-homicides list (Ware, 2020–2024); prison transparency reporting; drug-evidence/smuggling series; 2025 homicide coverage (Wilcox, Wheeler)
• WALB — February 2026 reporting on DOJ findings (homicide underreporting, EMS delays, Calhoun conditions)
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — October 1, 2024 "deliberate indifference" reporting (Ware; Narissa Wright allegation)
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation findings, as reported by WALB and GPB (2018–2023 period; 142 deaths; vacancy rates)
• Ware County Coroner / GBI Division of Forensic Sciences records (ORR productions) — causes and manners for named Ware deaths, including Karras and Rice autopsies
• GDC official mortality reports and GDC's own cause coding obtained via the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project (2015–2021)
• GPS intelligence records and case submissions — Ware incidents, lockdown, contraband seizures, GDC Office of Professional Standards investigations

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.