Spann, James Clarence

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

Autry State Prison — Deputy Warden (2020)
Eight people died at Autry during Spann’s year as deputy warden, according to GPS records. All were classified under cause‑category 6 (usually indicating natural or medical deaths). The decedents ranged in age from 22 (Cordell James Shipman, Nov. 24) to 80 (Richard Office, May 22). The deaths were spread from February through November. Autry would later be cited for a Legionella contamination problem (an inmate tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease in 2021) and closed in June 2023 for infrastructure repairs, but those issues post‑date Spann’s assignment.

Burruss Correctional Training Center — Warden (2021‑2022)
One death is recorded during Spann’s wardenship: Robert Carey Seymour, age 58, died on March 9, 2022, with cause‑category 6. No additional incidents or litigation tied to this facility appear in the records.

Lee State Prison — Warden (2023‑2024)
Two men died at Lee while Spann was warden. On Jan. 16, 2024, Christopher Aaron Godfrey, 40, died, and on Feb. 15, 2024, Daniel Emmett Ivey, 26, died — both attributed to category‑6 causes. Lee is one of the prisons later flagged by the U.S. Department of Justice for systemic under‑reporting of homicides, but no specific homicide at Lee is recorded in the deaths sample for Spann’s tenure.

Ware State Prison — Warden / Warden 1 / Warden 3 (2024‑present)
Thirty‑nine deaths are attributed to Ware during Spann’s leadership, the largest number tied to any single facility in his career. GPS records list multiple homicides: Samuel Kieth Ellis (Aug. 1, 2024, sharp‑force injuries), Christopher Michael Taylor (May 28, 2024, stab wound), Leonardo Lamont Anderson (Apr. 20, 2024, multiple stab wounds), Christopher Allen Barrett (Dec. 1, 2025, killed by cellmate), Barry Lynn Rutherford (May 25, 2025, homicide in restrictive housing), and Henry A. Hamilton (May 9, 2025, homicide). In 2026, the sample includes a cellmate killing of Jonathan Zimmons on May 19, a double killing on May 21 (Justin Dean Pulley and an unidentified “John Doe 2”), and additional deaths on May 11 and May 31 that notes describe as violent. An Atlanta Journal‑Constitution investigation documented ten homicides at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024, often involving multiple perpetrators. The DOJ later found that Georgia’s official homicide count significantly understated the violence; at Ware, one 2020 incident that GDC publicly labeled a “disturbance” actually involved hostage‑taking, escape attempts, and use of force, according to internal records. A Georgia Public Broadcasting report highlighted the case of DonTavis Mintz, whose body lay undiscovered for days because, his mother alleged, no welfare checks were conducted. The prison was also the site of a riot and punitive lockdown in July 2025, per GPS intelligence logs.

Litigation

• Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 4:25‑cv‑00111 (M.D. Ga., filed March 26, 2025) — pending. The case names the agency as a defendant; GPS records list Spann as a co‑defendant within the suit during his Ware tenure. No disposition has been reached.

Sources

• GPS personnel and death‑tracking records (deaths‑during‑tenure tables, facility totals)
• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — “Ga. prison homicides: a list of those killed”; DOJ investigation summaries; reporting on GDC under‑reporting and transparency; coverage of Hot Pockets smuggling cases at Calhoun (contextual)
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — report on DonTavis Mintz and welfare‑check failures at Ware State Prison (Oct. 2024)
• WALB — coverage of DOJ findings regarding concealed homicides, delayed emergency responses, and systemic failures at GDC facilities
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Georgia Department of Corrections (findings cited in AJC and GPB reporting)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jun 7, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.