Spencer, Gwendolyn A

Tenure Summary

Gwendolyn A. Spencer joined the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a Corrections Officer and advanced steadily through the ranks — Correctional Lieutenant (2016–2018), Correctional Captain (2019–2020), and Correctional Unit Manager (2021–2023) — before being appointed Deputy Warden at Calhoun State Prison beginning in 2024, a post she continues to hold as of 2025. GPS records show 14 deaths attributed to Calhoun State Prison during Spencer's tenure as Deputy Warden, spanning May 2024 through January 2026. Those deaths include at least four classified as homicides, multiple deaths of undetermined or natural cause, and one death attributed to dehydration following alleged staff misconduct documented by federal investigators. One civil lawsuit naming Spencer as a defendant and arising from conditions at Calhoun is currently pending.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Deputy Warden — Calhoun State Prison (2024–present)

GPS records show 14 deaths at Calhoun State Prison during Spencer's tenure as Deputy Warden. The homicide cluster is notable: Kenneth Scott Piper, 37, died May 4, 2024, following what the AJC's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation describes as an inmate-to-inmate assault per incident report data. Gonzalo Colmenero, 54, died July 17, 2024, also attributed to an inmate-to-inmate assault per the same AJC investigation. Willie Andrew Willis Jr., 27, died October 21, 2024; per GPS research corroborated by WALB, incident report data show he was thrown from a balcony and sustained a stab wound to the neck, dying from blunt force trauma. Willis's family alleges, according to National Today and WALB, that it took nearly an hour before he was airlifted for treatment, and that nurses gave conflicting accounts of his condition. Theodore Roundtree died January 19, 2025, with GPS records noting the cause as multiple stab wounds. Matthew Len Nutt, 37, died December 21, 2025; a user report to GPS alleges this was a homicide in the segregation unit. The remaining deaths during Spencer's tenure — Terry Paul Smith (62), Tyler Jackson Blackwell (31), William Dutton Maddox (62), Kent Tyrik Robinson (26), Charles Owens (cause listed as ruptured abdominal aneurysm), Gary Bernard Duncan (67), Tyler Jackson (30), Thomas Haugabook (67), and Jimmy McMullen (67, who GPS records note battled cancer for an extended period) — carry cause categories consistent with natural or undetermined causes.

Spencer's tenure at Calhoun overlaps with a series of systemic findings documented by federal investigators and the AJC. The DOJ, as reported by WALB, found that staff at Calhoun failed to follow classification and housing assignment procedures, contributing to a 2022 homicide — the killing of DaQuavious Cachone Lackey, 21, per intel events records — that predates Spencer's deputy warden appointment but reflects institutional patterns that persisted into her tenure. Federal investigators also documented, per WALB and the AJC, that a prisoner at Calhoun died of dehydration after staff allegedly shut off his water, closed his cell door flap, and withheld meals for two days. The AJC reported that the GDC failed to submit drug evidence to the state crime lab in at least 11 dismissed cases tied to Calhoun, including allegations against two Calhoun officers — Corlethia Lattimore (alleged to have smuggled 112 grams of methamphetamine) and Imani Ferguson (alleged to have smuggled tobacco) — with charges ultimately dismissed. A grand jury heard 35 Calhoun-related cases on June 2, 2025, but per GPS intel records, more than 300 cases remained pending afterward. The AJC separately reported that an incarcerated person at Calhoun, Edwin Murillo, allegedly ordered a murder from inside the facility. GPS intel records also document that two inmates — Joey Amour Jackson and Lance Riddle — were convicted of running a nationwide wire fraud and extortion operation totaling approximately $464,920 using contraband cell phones at Calhoun; a Managed Access System was installed at the facility mid-2025, after that operation had already occurred. A federal report cited by National Today described an "environment of fear and complacency" within GDC, with the DOJ concluding that Georgia's prison system fails to provide constitutionally required minimum physical safety.

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Litigation

• Jacobs v. Georgia Department of Corrections, No. 4:25-cv-00111 (M.D. Ga.), filed March 26, 2025 — pending; Spencer listed as defendant; no outcome amount recorded.
• In Re Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:20-md-02974 (N.D. Ga.), filed December 16, 2020 — pending; Spencer listed as defendant; this is a mass-tort MDL unrelated to GDC operations.
• In Re Equifax Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 1:17-md-02800 (N.D. Ga.), filed December 6, 2017; closed April 13, 2022 — terminated; Spencer listed as defendant; this is a consumer data-breach MDL unrelated to GDC operations.

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Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (Piper, Colmenero homicide incident data); drug smuggling/evidence failures at Calhoun SP; Murillo murder-for-hire allegation; DOJ prison conditions reporting
• WALB — Willis balcony death; family allegations re: medical response delay; DOJ findings on homicide underreporting, assault investigation rates, EMS delays, Calhoun classification failures, dehydration death
• National Today — Willis family allegations; federal report findings on emergency medical response delays and "environment of fear and complacency"
• GPS records / user reports — Nutt homicide allegation (segregation unit); McMullen cancer notation; Roundtree stab wound cause; stabbing and fire incident at Calhoun (Telegram relay)
• GPS intel events — Lackey 2022 homicide (DOJ findings on classification failures); dehydration death; Dorsey 2023 stabbing; wire fraud convictions (Jackson, Riddle); MAS installation timeline; grand jury backlog; lifer transfer wave (87 transfers, 2026)
• CourtListener / federal court records — Jacobs v. GDC, 4:25-cv-00111 (GAMD); In Re Paragard, 1:20-md-02974 (GAND); In Re Equifax, 1:17-md-02800 (GAND)

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.