Stewart, Veronica M

Tenure Summary

Veronica M. Stewart entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Telfair State Prison in 2007 and rose through the ranks at that facility — sergeant (2012), lieutenant (2014 and 2016–2017), correctional unit manager (2019–2020) — with a 2018 unit-manager posting at Calhoun State Prison in between. She served as deputy warden at Telfair from 2021 through 2023, and salary records list her as Warden 1 at Washington State Prison beginning in 2024, holding the title Warden from June 16, 2024 to the present. She is listed as active; no other sourced status is recorded.

Across her leadership-tier tenures, 41 deaths are attributed to her facilities — 25 at Washington State Prison and 16 at Telfair State Prison. The deadliest single episode was the January 11, 2026 disturbance at Washington, which the GDC described as gang-affiliated: three incarcerated men were pronounced dead at the scene and a fourth died January 17, with 13 other incarcerated people and one correctional officer injured. At Telfair, the July 2023 death of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, left roughly five hours in an outdoor cage as the heat index reached about 105°F, was followed by a $3,249,873 state liability payout recorded in the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger.

What happened on their watch

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2021–2023. Sixteen deaths are attributed to this tenure. Per records and court filings: Juan Carlos Arguelles-Reveles, 37, died May 7, 2021 of a stabbing, with 11 other incarcerated people listed in the incident report; Xavier LaMar Warren, 32, died December 28, 2022 of a stab wound to the torso; De'ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, died April 18, 2023 of exsanguination from a stab wound to the neck, and a claim filed against the state alleged he was stabbed by several prisoners when no staff were in the dorm; Bibiano, 27, died July 20, 2023 after being placed in a roughly 12-by-8.5-foot fenced outdoor cage with no shade and reaching the hospital with an internal body temperature of 107°F. The DOAS settlement ledger records payouts tied to Telfair in this period: $1,850 (David Morris), $2,600 (Derrell Ruth), $5,361 (Darryl Thomas), $1,750 (Ryan Frank DeMon), and $3,249,873 (family/estate of Bibiano). Records also note that Sergeant Desiree Briley was sentenced to 18 months after pleading guilty to smuggling methamphetamine into Telfair for at least two years, and that Sen. Josh McLaurin and other legislators were turned away from an unannounced tour in 2021.

• Walter Rakim Jordan died August 30, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 53).
• Bobby Murray died December 21, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 51).
• Kwesi Jamal Stultz died December 22, 2023, at Telfair State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 24). Records describe multiple injuries to the head.

Washington State Prison — Warden, 2024–present. Twenty-five deaths are attributed to this tenure. Records describe a facility under sustained gang conflict: a January 2025 beating that left Jamie Shahan on life support with severe brain injuries; the January 2025 fatal shooting of Jacob Cole Henson by a GDC officer during a hospital transport; reports of blue-water contamination in 2025, which name Stewart directly; a November 2025 staffing collapse in which many housing units at Washington and Dooly had no officer present for hours or entire shifts; and the January 11, 2026 disturbance, after which GDC's response to an open records request showed six officers on duty. Twelve incarcerated men were charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, gang participation and unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution. The facility remained on lockdown for months afterward, per family reports and monitored communications, which also alleged stabbings during the lockdown, gang-run housing buildings, unequal commissary limits, and additional unreported deaths. Former inmates told 13WMAZ the riot was the predictable outcome of understaffing and decay; state Rep. Billy Hitchens alleged the system had not moved to stop inmates jamming cell-door locks; and both the AJC and 41NBC reported the DOJ's 2024 finding that Georgia officials were "deliberately indifferent" to violence. Federal prosecutors alleged Luis Alfonso Ramirez ran a drug network from the prison on contraband phones (indictment, May 2026), and records note Jeffery White's meth network operating from the facility in 2024.

• Torrey Wayne Forrester died July 1, 2024, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 41).
• Devonte Tiger Williams died August 9, 2024, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 26). Records describe multiple sharp force injuries to the torso, head and neck.
• Dontavious Carter died January 7, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide.
• Robert Washington died January 14, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical.
• Yoncey Jallah died April 23, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 49).
• Lamontez Winkfield died May 11, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 22).
• Michael Lareco Daniel died June 20, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 44).
• William Earl Long died July 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Accident (age 52).
• Darrin Gresham died August 8, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 60).
• Wayne Krier died November 5, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 77).
• Benjamin Horne died December 15, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Overdose (age 51).
• Taylor Allen Howard died December 16, 2025, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 66).
• Dajhmere Ladaveon Hall died January 9, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Overdose (age 30).
• Teddy Dewayne Jackson died January 11, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 27).
• Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher died January 11, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 23).
• Jimmy Lee Trammell died January 11, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 42). Records note he was days from release.
• Silas Rodrigioeuz Westbrook died January 17, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 42).
• Frank Smith died May 6, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 75).
• Deshawn Poole died June 9, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 34).
• Courtney Davis died June 13, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 43). GDC stated there were no signs of foul play; the death is under investigation by the Office of Professional Standards.
• Isreal Moses Jones died June 14, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 68). GDC stated the cause was undetermined and the body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab.
• Joseph Earl Adams died August 30, 2026, at Washington State Prison; GPS's registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 58).

Litigation

• Clayton v. Stewart, No. 3:25-cv-00009 (GASD), filed February 10, 2025 — pending; Stewart listed as defendant.
• Bibiano v. Garrett, No. 3:25-cv-00013 (GASD), filed February 13, 2025 — pending.
• Kemp v. Mcfarlen, No. 5:25-cv-00059 (GAMD), filed February 18, 2025 — terminated May 30, 2025.
• Lonon v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00037 (GASD), filed May 2, 2022 — terminated November 21, 2022.
• Ross v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00066 (GASD), filed June 22, 2022 — terminated October 12, 2022.
• Arnold v. Kinsey, No. 3:22-cv-00069 (GASD), filed June 27, 2022 — terminated March 10, 2025.
• Jackson v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00114 (GASD), filed September 13, 2022 — terminated April 1, 2024.

No outcome amounts are recorded for these dockets.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — January 2026 Washington State Prison disturbance deaths, DOJ findings, consultant study, GDC homicide list
• 13WMAZ — deadly brawl coverage, former-inmate accounts of gangs and understaffing, 12 charged
• WGXA — Silas Westbrook death, drug network indictment, family statements
• WFXL — 12 charged in gang-affiliated disturbance
• 11Alive — GDC gang-affiliation statement
• 41NBC — fourth death, DOJ 2024 findings, Rep. Billy Hitchens on cell-door locks
• CourtListener dockets — cases listed above
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Telfair payouts
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — investigations into Davis and Jones deaths
• GPS case submissions and monitored-communication records — 2025–2026 incidents at Washington State Prison

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 18, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.