Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Stewart, Veronica M
Stewart, Veronica M
Status: active
Profile written July 12, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Veronica M. Stewart began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at Telfair State Prison in 2007, rising through ranks including sergeant and lieutenant before serving as a correctional unit manager at Calhoun State Prison in 2018. She returned to Telfair as a unit manager in 2019, then as deputy warden from 2021 through 2023. In January 2024, Stewart became warden of Washington State Prison, a post she continues to hold. GPS records attribute 43 deaths to facilities where Stewart held leadership roles: 16 at Telfair during her time as deputy warden and 27 at Washington State Prison during her wardenship. During her watch, the facilities experienced multiple homicides, a lethal riot, and a heat-related death that led to a $3.2 million settlement. Stewart is a defendant in several pending federal civil rights lawsuits.What happened on their watch
Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden (2021–2023)
From 2021 to 2023, Stewart served as deputy warden at Telfair State Prison. GPS records count 16 deaths at the facility during that period. Among them were De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, who bled to death from a stab wound to his neck on April 18, 2023; according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a claim filed against the state alleged Floyd was stabbed by several prisoners when no staff were present. Kwesi Jamal Stultz, 24, died the same year from multiple head injuries, also classified as a homicide by the AJC. On July 20, 2023, Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, collapsed after being left in an unshaded outdoor recreation cage for roughly five hours while the heat index reached about 105°F. A lawsuit filed by his family alleges an officer responded “if he dies, he dies” when Bibiano pleaded for help. His death was reported by GDC as “natural causes,” but news reports and the eventual settlement contradict that classification. Montrell James Clayton, 25, died on May 26, 2022, of a still-undetermined cause; his family later sued Stewart. Several other deaths during this tenure remain uncategorized or medical, including William Hiram Lumpkin, 74, who died in August 2021 after complaining of chest pain and being refused evaluation by medical staff, which witnesses characterized as neglect.
Washington State Prison — Warden (2024–present)
Stewart became warden of Washington State Prison on January 1, 2024. GPS attributes 27 deaths to the facility during her leadership. The most severe incident occurred on January 11, 2026, when a gang-affiliated riot left four men dead: Teddy Dewayne Jackson, 27, died from a stab wound to the torso; Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, 23, and Jimmy Lee Trammell, 42, were also killed in the melee. Silas Rodrigiouz Westbrook, 42, died six days later from complications of multiple stab wounds sustained in the same riot; his Washington County death certificate lists the manner as homicide. In the wake of the riot, 12 incarcerated men were charged with felony murder and related offenses, and the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation. Earlier, on April 23, 2024, Jacob Cole Henson, 31, was shot and killed by guards during a fight at a hospital, according to the AJC; his death certificate states he sustained “gunshot wounds while fighting with prison guards.” Homicides continued: Dontavious Carter died from a puncture wound to the heart on January 7, 2025; Michael Lareco Daniel, 44, died from sharp-force trauma to the head on June 20, 2025; and Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died from multiple sharp-force injuries in August 2024. A pair of deaths on consecutive days in June 2026—Isreal Moses Jones and Courtney Davis—are under investigation, with GDC stating the causes are undetermined. Several other deaths are recorded as pending investigation or linked to the GBI’s review of unknown-cause fatalities. Intel reports from media and family sources during this period allege chronic understaffing, rampant gang violence, contraband cellphone networks, and severe delays in emergency medical response—conditions highlighted in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found Georgia prison officials “deliberately indifferent” to deadly violence.
Litigation
- Bibiano v. Garrett, 3:25-cv-00013 (S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 13, 2025) — pending. The family of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, who died of heat exposure at Telfair in 2023, reached a $3.2 million settlement with the State of Georgia in 2026, per 13WMAZ. Stewart is a defendant.
- Clayton v. Stewart, 3:25-cv-00009 (S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 10, 2025) — pending. Likely relates to the 2022 death of Montrell Clayton at Telfair.
- Branner v. Stewart, 7:24-cv-00075 (M.D. Ga., filed July 31, 2024) — pending. Stewart is named as a defendant; the complaint’s subject is not detailed in available records.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports, DOJ investigation findings, and facility condition reporting (2023–2026)
- 13WMAZ — heat-death settlement, officer comment allegation, reform calls from former inmates
- 41NBC/WGXA — coverage of the January 2026 Washington State Prison riot and subsequent deaths
- Washington County death certificates (Jacob Henson, Silas Westbrook, Teddy Jackson) obtained via coroner records production, confirming manner and cause
- GBI Open Records Requests — forensic examination reports and autopsy request documentation for several Washington deaths
- GPS case records and intel reports — internal death logs, witness claims, and facility-specific allegations
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| WARDEN 1 | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| Warden | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2024-06-16 → present |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2021-01-01 → 2023-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | CALHOUN STATE PRISON | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Lieutenant | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2014-01-01 → 2014-12-31 |
| Sergeant | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2012-01-01 → 2012-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2007-01-01 → 2007-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:25-cv-00059 | GAMD | 2025-02-18 | terminated |
| 3:25-cv-00013 | GASD | 2025-02-13 | pending |
| 3:25-cv-00009 | GASD | 2025-02-10 | pending |
| 7:24-cv-00075 | GAMD | 2024-07-31 | pending |
| 5:23-cv-00430 | GAMD | 2023-10-26 | terminated |
| 3:22-cv-00114 | GASD | 2022-09-13 | terminated |
| 3:22-cv-00069 | GASD | 2022-06-27 | terminated |
| 3:22-cv-00066 | GASD | 2022-06-22 | terminated |
| 5:22-cv-00182 | GAMD | 2022-05-11 | terminated |
| 3:22-cv-00037 | GASD | 2022-05-02 | terminated |
| 1:20-md-02974 | GAND | 2020-12-16 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
43 people died at facilities under Stewart, Veronica M's leadership.
Submit a correction
If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.