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Stewart, Veronica M
Status: active
Profile written June 21, 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 has climbed the ranks of the Georgia Department of Corrections over nearly two decades. Starting as a correctional officer at Telfair State Prison in 2007, Stewart went on to serve as a sergeant, lieutenant, and unit manager before becoming the facility’s Deputy Warden from 2021 to 2023. In January 2024 she was promoted to Warden at Washington State Prison, a post she holds as of the latest records (2025). GPS records attribute a total of 42 deaths to her leadership-level tenures—16 at Telfair State Prison during her deputy warden years and 26 at Washington State Prison under her wardenship. Stewart is also a named defendant in several federal lawsuits, including wrongful-death actions that arose from deaths inside the facilities she oversaw.What happened on their watch
Deputy Warden, Telfair State Prison (2021–2023)
During Stewart’s three years as Deputy Warden, 16 deaths were recorded at Telfair State Prison. The decedents included multiple homicide victims identified in an Atlanta Journal‑Constitution investigation: Xavier Warren (stabbed in December 2022), Kwesi Stultz (died from multiple head injuries in December 2023), and De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, who was stabbed in the neck in April 2023. In July 2023, 27‑year‑old Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano died after officers left him in an outdoor recreation cage for five hours in a 105‑degree heat index; his internal body temperature reached 107°F, and the GDC reported the death as “natural causes.” A lawsuit filed by Bibiano’s family later alleged negligence. Two other pending suits—Clayton v. Stewart and Branner v. Stewart—were filed by families of men who died at Telfair under Stewart’s deputy wardenship. News reports and GPS intelligence noted that during this period Telfair State Prison operated with chronic understaffing; an AJC analysis later found that 79% of correctional‑officer positions were unfilled.Warden, Washington State Prison (2024–present)
Stewart became Warden of Washington State Prison in January 2024. GPS records associate 26 deaths with the facility during her tenure so far. The deadliest episode was a gang‑affiliated riot on January 11, 2026. Three incarcerated men—Teddy Jackson (27), Ahmod Hatcher (23), and Jimmy Trammell (42)—were killed in the violence, and a fourth, Silas Westbrook (42), died days later after being transferred from the prison. The GDC ultimately charged twelve prisoners with felony murder and gang‑related offenses. The riot attracted intense media coverage and drew on allegations from former prisoners that Washington State Prison was plagued by broken cell‑door locks, gang dominance, and severe understaffing—conditions the U.S. Department of Justice had flagged in a 2024 report that called Georgia prison officials “deliberately indifferent” to deadly violence.Several other homicides occurred under Stewart’s leadership. According to the AJC, Jacob Cole Henson (31) was shot by a GDC officer during a fight while being transported to a hospital in April 2024. Devonte Tiger Williams (26) died from multiple sharp‑force injuries in August 2024. Dontavious Carter was killed by a puncture wound to the heart in January 2025, and Michael Lareco Daniel died in a homicide in June 2025. In June 2026, two men—Courtney Davis and Isreal Moses Jones—died on back‑to‑back days, prompting a GDC Office of Professional Standards investigation. While Davis’s cause remained undetermined, a confidential source classified Jones’s death as a homicide, per GPS records.
Contraband and gang activity also marked Stewart’s watch. A federal investigation indicted inmate Luis Alfonso Ramirez for orchestrating a drug‑trafficking network from inside Washington State Prison using contraband cellphones. News reports said the operation involved 35 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3.5 kilograms of fentanyl. The DOJ’s broader probe of Georgia prisons, which covered the period of Stewart’s wardenship, found that the state systematically underreported homicides, that emergency medical response times were dangerously slow, and that “an environment of fear and complacency” prevailed.
Litigation
- Kemp v. Mcfarlen, 5:25‑cv‑00059, GAMD, filed Feb. 18, 2025 – terminated May 30, 2025.
- Bibiano v. Garrett, 3:25‑cv‑00013, GASD, filed Feb. 13, 2025 – pending. (Bibiano’s family alleges wrongful death after Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano died from heat exposure at Telfair SP.)
- Clayton v. Stewart, 3:25‑cv‑00009, GASD, filed Feb. 10, 2025 – pending. (Likely connected to the 2022 death of Montrell Clayton at Telfair SP.)
- Branner v. Stewart, 7:24‑cv‑00075, GAMD, filed July 31, 2024 – pending.
- Willis v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 5:23‑cv‑00430, GAMD, filed Oct. 26, 2023 – terminated Jan. 23, 2026.
- Jackson v. White, 3:22‑cv‑00114, GASD, filed Sept. 13, 2022 – terminated Apr. 1, 2024.
- Arnold v. Kinsey, 3:22‑cv‑00069, GASD, filed June 27, 2022 – terminated Mar. 10, 2025.
- Ross v. White, 3:22‑cv‑00066, GASD, filed June 22, 2022 – terminated Oct. 12, 2022.
- Benvenutti v. Geico General Insurance Company, 5:22‑cv‑00182, GAMD, filed May 11, 2022 – terminated May 30, 2024.
- Lonon v. White, 3:22‑cv‑00037, GASD, filed May 2, 2022 – terminated Nov. 21, 2022.
- In Re Paragard Iud Products Liability Litigation, 1:20‑md‑02974, GAND, filed Dec. 16, 2020 – pending.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — investigation into Georgia prison homicides, documenting killings at Telfair SP and Washington SP, and reports on DOJ findings and understaffing.
- 13WMAZ, WGXA, WALB, 41NBC — coverage of the 2026 Washington SP riot, inmate deaths, family allegations, and GDC statements.
- CourtListener — federal docket records for civil lawsuits naming Stewart as a defendant.
- GPS intelligence archive — user‑submitted death reports, family allegations, and contemporaneous records of facility incidents.
- U.S. Department of Justice (referenced in multiple news reports) — 2024 investigation finding systemic violence, underreporting of homicides, and “deliberate indifference” within GDC prisons.
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
42 people died at facilities under Stewart, Veronica M's leadership.
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