Spann, James Clarence

Tenure Summary

James Clarence Spann's GDC career began as a counselor at Autry State Prison in 2004; records show him as chief counselor at Calhoun State Prison in 2009 and as a behavioral health counselor at Wilcox State Prison in 2015, before he moved into facility command as deputy warden at Wilcox (2016–2019) and deputy warden at Autry (2020). He held a first warden posting at Burruss Correctional Training Center in 2021–2022, was warden at Lee State Prison in 2023–2024, and is listed as warden at Ware State Prison from 2024 onward, a post the records show him still holding.

GPS's death registry attributes 43 deaths to Spann's leadership tenures: 32 at Ware State Prison, 8 at Autry State Prison, 2 at Lee State Prison and 1 at Burruss C.T.C. No lawsuit naming him as a defendant appears in the records. The state did pay out five liability settlements tied to facilities where he served as deputy warden — four at Wilcox and one at Autry — according to the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger.

What happened on their watch

Autry State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2020. Eight deaths are attributed to this posting, all in 2020, among them Darren Nicholas Wehrle (32), who died February 13, 2020, and Cordell James Shipman (22), who died November 24, 2020, per GPS's registry.

Wilcox State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2016–2019. No deaths are attributed to this posting. Four state liability payouts tied to Wilcox incidents during these years are itemized under Litigation.

Burruss C.T.C. — Warden, 2021–2022. One death: Robert Carey Seymour, 58, died March 9, 2022, per GPS's registry.

Lee State Prison — Warden, 2023–2024. Two deaths: Christopher Aaron Godfrey, 40, died January 16, 2024, and Daniel Emmett Ivey, 26, died February 15, 2024, per GPS's registry.

Ware State Prison — Warden, 2024 to present. Thirty-two deaths are attributed to Spann's Ware tenure. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in January 2025 that ten inmates were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024, with multiple inmates involved in several of the homicides according to GDC incident reports; the same paper reported that GDC publicly described the August 1, 2020, Ware incident as a mere "disturbance" while internal records described hostage-taking, escape attempts, assaults and use of force. Inmate and family reports relayed to GPS during his tenure — which the records log against his role as warden — describe a July 2025 riot followed by a punitive lockdown; repeated gang-related stabbings and lockdowns through spring 2026, including one report of five people stabbed on May 15, 2026, and a guard stabbed in July 2026; a statewide lockdown stemming from rival gang conflict in May 2026; and contraband seizures in 2026 of items believed headed to Ware. GDC's Office of Professional Standards is leading the investigation into Kojack Junior Thomas's death, with his body sent to the GBI crime lab.

Two Ware deaths show a shared pattern. Charles Johnny Rice died April 27, 2025; the GBI certified the manner of death as undetermined, and GPS classifies the death as a homicide on the strength of autopsy findings — asphyxia in a shared cell, with the pathologist unable to determine "a suicidal hanging or a homicidal smothering or strangulation with postmortem positioning of the body." Ted Daniel Karras, 67, died December 20, 2024, at Ware; the GBI likewise certified the manner undetermined, and GPS classifies that death as a homicide based on autopsy findings of neck compression, with the pathologist writing that "homicidal strangulation cannot be excluded."

Among the deaths named below, GPS's registry lists six as homicides, four as suicides, two as overdoses, five as natural/medical, one as an accident and seven as unknown/pending:

• David Wayne Williams died September 13, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as suicide.
• David Allan Dowling died August 9, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• Percy Lee Burdine died August 6, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• David Miller Newman died July 15, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• Reberto Baez died July 9, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• David Randolph Newcomer died June 30, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• Kojack Junior Thomas died May 31, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Justin Dean Pulley died May 20, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Johnathan Cleo Hardman-Simmons died May 20, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as suicide.
• Anthony Terrell Grover died May 11, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Cody Humphrey died February 21, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as natural/medical.
• Christopher Henry died February 12, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Carlton Atkins Jones died January 24, 2026, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as natural/medical.
• Vernon Edward Kennedy died December 12, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as an accident.
• Christopher Allen Barrett died December 1, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Marty Shawn Wright died November 13, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as suicide.
• Michael Cohen died October 13, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as natural/medical.
• Jose Hervert Vazquez died September 9, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• Matias Elijaone Evans died August 15, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as unknown/pending.
• Dakota Lee Duffin died July 19, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as suicide.
• David Michael Dixon died July 14, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as natural/medical.
• Barry Lynn Rutherford died May 25, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as overdose.
• Henry A Hamilton died May 9, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as natural/medical.
• Charles Johnny Rice died April 27, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as homicide.
• Lon Taylor Willbanks died April 19, 2025, at Ware State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as overdose.

Litigation

No lawsuit naming Spann as a defendant appears in the records. The following state liability payouts are recorded in the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger:

• Settlement — Susan Brown, $70,000, tied to an incident at Autry State Prison in 2020 (ledger entry February 27, 2020), while Spann was deputy warden there.
• Settlement — Jimmy Lucero, $550,000, tied to a 2016 incident at Wilcox State Prison (ledger entry June 29, 2016).
• Settlement — Ricky Johnson, $48,242.29, tied to a 2016 incident at Wilcox State Prison (ledger entry October 12, 2016).
• Settlement — Jeffrey Ray, $2,000, tied to a 2016 incident at Wilcox State Prison (ledger entry October 31, 2016).
• Settlement — James Wheeler, $750,000, tied to a 2017 incident at Wilcox State Prison (ledger entry October 29, 2017).

Sources

• GPS death registry — causes, dates and ages for the 25 deaths named above at Ware, plus the Autry, Lee and Burruss decedents.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — "A list of those killed in Georgia's prison system" (January 21, 2025) on ten Ware homicides, July 2020–August 2024; prisons-transparency investigation (January 28, 2026) on the August 1, 2020 Ware incident.
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records) — the five liability payouts listed above.
• GPS case submissions relayed from incarcerated people and family members at Ware State Prison — stabbing, lockdown, riot, contraband and investigation reports logged during his Ware tenure.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Nov 1, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.