Stewart, Veronica M

Tenure Summary

Veronica M. Stewart began her Georgia Department of Corrections career as a correctional officer at Telfair State Prison in 2007, rising through the ranks — sergeant, lieutenant, unit manager — before being promoted to deputy warden of that prison in 2021. In January 2024, she became warden of Washington State Prison, a facility identified by the U.S. Department of Justice in its statewide investigation of unconstitutional conditions. GPS records attribute a total of 43 deaths to the period of Stewart’s leadership roles: 16 at Telfair State Prison while she was deputy warden, and 27 at Washington State Prison as warden. Her tenures were punctuated by high-profile fatalities, including a heat-exposure death that resulted in a $3.2 million settlement for the family, an officer-involved shooting inside a hospital, and a gang-related riot that killed four incarcerated men and injured over a dozen others.

What happened on their watch

Telfair State Prison, Deputy Warden (2021–2023)

During Stewart’s three years as deputy warden, GPS records attribute 16 deaths at Telfair State Prison. On July 20, 2023, 27‑year‑old Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano died after officers left him in an unshaded outdoor recreation cage for roughly five hours while the heat index reached about 105°F. According to the family’s lawsuit, he repeatedly begged to be taken off the yard, telling guards he was overheating and struggling to breathe; an officer allegedly responded, “if he dies, he dies.” Bibiano arrived at the hospital with a body temperature of 107°F. The Georgia Department of Corrections reported his death as “natural causes.” In 2026, his family reached a $3.2 million settlement with the State of Georgia, per 13WMAZ. That same year, the facility saw multiple homicides: De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, died of a stab wound to the neck in April 2023, and Kwesi Jamal Stultz, 24, died of multiple blunt‑force injuries to the head in December 2023, according to the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s prison homicides investigation. Other deaths included suicides, drug toxicities, and a case classified as medical neglect — William Lumpkin, 74, whose complaints of chest pain were reportedly ignored by medical staff on the morning he died. The facility was operating with severe understaffing; the AJC reported that Telfair was missing 76–79% of its essential workforce, leaving as few as 32 officers for 1,400 prisoners.

Washington State Prison, Warden (2024–present)

Stewart assumed command of Washington State Prison just months before the most lethal stretch of her career. GPS records attribute 27 deaths at the facility during her time as warden. The deadliest single event came on January 11, 2026, when a gang‑affiliated disturbance erupted, leaving three men — Teddy Dewayne Jackson, 27; Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, 23; and Jimmy Lee Trammell, 42 — stabbed and killed. A fourth, Silas Rodrigiouz Westbrook, 42, died six days later of multiple stab wounds, according to a Washington County death certificate that ruled the manner homicide. GDC charged 12 incarcerated men with felony murder. Earlier, on April 23, 2024, Jacob Cole Henson, 31, was fatally shot by guards during a hospital transport; a GBI autopsy documented five gunshot wounds, and the death certificate noted “gunshot wounds while fighting with prison guards.” The autopsy report stated that Henson arrived at the morgue still shackled — handcuffs and ankle cuffs — and that the fatal round entered the top of his shoulder traveling downward. The AJC investigation also documented the January 2025 homicide of Dontavious Carter, killed by a puncture wound to the heart. Drug‑related deaths, including fatal methamphetamine and oxycodone toxicity, underscored the contraband flow; a federal indictment alleged that an incarcerated person ran a drug network from the prison using contraband cellphones. The DOJ’s investigation found that Georgia prison officials were “deliberately indifferent” to violence, and Washington State Prison was named among facilities with systemic failures.

Litigation

• Bibiano v. Garrett, No. 3:25‑cv‑00013 (S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 13, 2025) — pending; related to the death of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano. The family settled with the state for $3.2 million, per 13WMAZ.
• Clayton v. Stewart, No. 3:25‑cv‑00009 (S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 10, 2025) — pending; directly names Warden Stewart.
• Kemp v. Mcfarlen, No. 5:25‑cv‑00059 (M.D. Ga., filed Feb. 18, 2025) — terminated May 30, 2025.
• Jackson v. White, No. 3:22‑cv‑00114 (S.D. Ga., filed Sept. 13, 2022) — terminated Apr. 1, 2024.
• Arnold v. Kinsey, No. 3:22‑cv‑00069 (S.D. Ga., filed June 27, 2022) — terminated Mar. 10, 2025.
• Ross v. White, No. 3:22‑cv‑00066 (S.D. Ga., filed June 22, 2022) — terminated Oct. 12, 2022.
• Lonon v. White, No. 3:22‑cv‑00037 (S.D. Ga., filed May 2, 2022) — terminated Nov. 21, 2022.

Sources

• Georgia Prisoners’ Speak (GPS) personnel and death‑records database
• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; staffing and DOJ‑report coverage
• 13WMAZ — reporting on the $3.2 million settlement for Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano; riot charges
• WGXA — federal drug trafficking indictment from Washington State Prison
• 41NBC — Washington State Prison riot and DOJ investigation findings
• WALB — DOJ findings and death at Calhoun State Prison (context)
• GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy reports obtained via Open Records requests (Jacob Henson, others)
• Washington County death certificates
• CourtListener docket records for listed lawsuits

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 2, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.