Stewart, Veronica M

Tenure Summary

Veronica M. Stewart rose through Georgia Department of Corrections ranks from correctional officer at Telfair State Prison in 2007 to sergeant, lieutenant, and correctional unit manager, then served as deputy warden at Telfair from 2021 through 2023. In 2024 Stewart moved to Washington State Prison as warden, where GPS records list her as facility lead through at least 2026. GPS records attribute 40 deaths to the leadership tenures Stewart held: 16 at Telfair State Prison and 24 at Washington State Prison. Several lawsuits were filed in federal court during those years; one pending case, Bibiano v. Garrett, tracks the July 2023 heat-exposure death of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, whose family later settled with the State of Georgia for $3.2 million, as reported by 13WMAZ.

What happened on their watch

Telfair State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2021–2023

At Telfair, GPS records attribute 16 deaths during Stewart’s deputy warden tenure. According to GPS records, Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano, 27, died on July 20, 2023, after being left for roughly five hours in a fenced outdoor recreation cage with no shade while the heat index reached about 105°F; a family lawsuit alleged an officer responded to his pleas by saying “if he dies, he dies,” per 13WMAZ. The family later settled with the state for $3.2 million, according to 13WMAZ. Telfair County coroner records listed homicide as the manner for Kwesi Jamal Stultz, 24, who died Dec. 22, 2023, from blunt-force head injuries, and for Xavier Lamar Warren, 32, who died Dec. 28, 2022, from stab wound and blunt trauma. The AJC homicide investigation documented De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, who died April 18, 2023, from a stab wound to the neck; a state claim alleged Floyd was stabbed while no prison staff were present in the dorm, per the AJC. Coroner records also recorded suicides, including Dustin Bowling by hanging, and accidental drug deaths, such as William Allen Slaton from methamphetamine toxicity. William Hiram Lumpkin, 74, died in 2021; GPS records retained a medical-neglect classification based on witness reports that his chest-pain complaints were ignored. During this period, AJC reporting described Telfair as missing 76% to 79% of its essential correctional staffing.

Washington State Prison — Warden, 2024–present

At Washington State Prison, GPS records attribute 24 deaths during Stewart’s warden tenure. A Jan. 11, 2026, riot killed Ahmod Dewayne Hatcher, 23, Jimmy Lee Trammell, 42, and Teddy Dewayne Jackson, 27, according to GPS records; Silas Westbrook, 42, died Jan. 17 after transfer from injuries sustained in the riot. Washington County death certificates list the manner as homicide for Jackson and Westbrook. In April 2026, GDC charged 12 inmates with felony murder and related offenses in connection with the riot. In June 2026, Courtney Davis, 43, and Isreal Jones, 68, died at the facility; GDC stated their causes were undetermined, while a confidential-source account in GPS records described Jones’s death as a retaliation killing. GBI records list Dajhmere Hall, 30, as dying of acute oxycodone toxicity, manner accident, and Benjamin Horne, 51, as dying of methamphetamine toxicity, manner accident. Michael Lareco Daniel, 44, died June 20, 2025; a death certificate lists sharp force trauma to the head and “assaulted by other,” per GPS records. Devonte Tiger Williams, 26, died Aug. 9, 2024, from multiple sharp force injuries, according to the AJC. Washington State Prison is a named facility in the U.S. Department of Justice investigation; DOJ findings, as reported by 41NBC and the AJC, described deliberate indifference to violence, drug use, and gang-run black markets inside Georgia prisons.

Litigation

• Bibiano v. Garrett, No. 3:25-cv-00013 (GASD, filed Feb. 13, 2025) — pending; concerns the heat-exposure death of Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano.
• Clayton v. Stewart, No. 3:25-cv-00009 (GASD, filed Feb. 10, 2025) — pending.
• Kemp v. Mcfarlen, No. 5:25-cv-00059 (GAMD, filed Feb. 18, 2025) — terminated May 30, 2025.
• Jackson v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00114 (GASD, filed Sept. 13, 2022) — terminated Apr. 1, 2024.
• Arnold v. Kinsey, No. 3:22-cv-00069 (GASD, filed June 27, 2022) — terminated Mar. 10, 2025.
• Ross v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00066 (GASD, filed June 22, 2022) — terminated Oct. 12, 2022.
• Lonon v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00037 (GASD, filed May 2, 2022) — terminated Nov. 21, 2022.

Sources

• GPS structured personnel and mortality records.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation; Washington State Prison riot and DOJ coverage.
• 13WMAZ — Bibiano settlement and Washington State Prison riot/fatalities.
• 41NBC — Washington State Prison inmate deaths and DOJ findings.
• Telfair County Coroner death certificates (obtained via open records production).
• Washington County death certificates, Georgia State File numbers.
• GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy and forensic examination reports.
• U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Georgia Department of Corrections.
• CourtListener dockets for U.S. District Courts in the Southern and Middle Districts of Georgia.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 30, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.