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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 in 2007 as a Correctional Officer at Telfair State Prison. Over the next fourteen years, she rose through the ranks—Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Unit Manager—at the same facility, before being promoted to Deputy Warden of Telfair in 2021. In January 2024, Stewart moved to Washington State Prison as its Warden, a position she continues to hold. GPS records attribute a total of 43 deaths to the facilities during her leadership tenures: 16 during her three years as Deputy Warden at Telfair State Prison (2021–2023), and 27 since she assumed the Warden role at Washington State Prison in 2024. These totals encompass homicides, a staff-involved shooting, a heat-exposure death that resulted in a $3.2 million state settlement, and a mass-casualty riot in January 2026. Stewart has been named as a defendant in at least seven federal civil rights lawsuits.What happened on their watch
Telfair State Prison, Deputy Warden (2021–2023)
During Stewart’s three years as Deputy Warden, 16 incarcerated people died at Telfair State Prison, per GPS records. The deaths included multiple homicides: according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 37-year-old Juan Carlos Arguello-Revelles was stabbed to death in May 2021; Xavier Lamar Warren, 32, died from a stab wound to the torso in December 2022; De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, 29, bled to death from a neck stab wound in April 2023; and 24-year-old Kwesi Jamal Stultz died from multiple head injuries in December 2023. In April 2023, a claim filed against the state alleged that Floyd was stabbed while no prison staff were present in the dorm, and that he had become a target after renouncing his gang affiliation.The most heavily litigated death was that of 27-year-old Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano. On July 20, 2023, officers left him in an unshaded outdoor recreation cage for roughly five hours while the heat index reached 105°F. The family’s lawsuit alleges he repeatedly pleaded for help—saying he was overheating, dehydrated, and struggling to breathe—and that an officer responded, “if he dies, he dies.” He arrived at a hospital with a body temperature of 107°F. Though GDC recorded the death as “natural causes,” the family’s lawsuit, Bibiano v. Garrett, alleged medical neglect. In 2026, the state settled with the family for $3.2 million, as reported by 13WMAZ.
Broader systemic problems were evident during Stewart’s tenure. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution report highlighted that Telfair State Prison was missing 76% of its essential workforce, leaving only 36 correctional officers to supervise 1,400 prisoners. The Department of Justice’s investigation into Georgia prisons, covering 2018–2023, concluded that officials were “deliberately indifferent” to violence, sexual abuse, and chronic understaffing—a finding that overlapped Stewart’s years as Deputy Warden.
Washington State Prison, Warden (2024–present)
Since Stewart took over as Warden in January 2024, 27 people have died at Washington State Prison. The deaths include a staff-involved homicide: on April 23, 2024, 31-year-old Jacob Cole Henson was shot multiple times by GDC guards during a fight while being transported for medical treatment. His official death certificate, obtained by GPS, lists the cause as multiple gunshot wounds and notes he was “shot while fighting with prison guards.” Other homicides followed: 30-year-old Dontavious Carter died from a puncture wound to the heart on January 7, 2025, and 44-year-old Michael Daniel was killed by sharp-force trauma in June 2025.The deadliest incident during Stewart’s watch was a gang-affiliated disturbance on January 11, 2026, that left three men dead that day—Teddy Jackson (27), Ahmod Hatcher (23), and Jimmy Lee Trammell (42)—and a fourth, Silas Westbrook (42), who died of delayed complications from multiple stab wounds on January 17. Twelve incarcerated men were later charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and gang participation. News reports, including from 41NBC and WGXA, described the facility as overcrowded and understaffed, with locks that inmates could jam, allowing free movement and attacks. Former prisoners told 13WMAZ that gangs dominated daily life and that guards rarely intervened, even in life-or-death situations. The Department of Justice’s findings about an “environment of fear and complacency” were frequently cited in coverage of the riot.
Stewart’s facility has also been a locus of a major contraband-cellphone investigation: according to WGXA, federal prosecutors indicted an inmate, Luis Alfonso Ramirez, for running a drug trafficking network from inside Washington State Prison using a contraband phone. A GPS family report detailed a case of privileged legal mail being withheld for over two weeks, in violation of facility procedures. Additionally, GPS records show that in several 2025 deaths, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation performed no actual autopsies—merely records reviews—raising questions about the rigor of mortality investigations at the facility.
Litigation
- Clayton v. Stewart, No. 3:25-cv-00009 (S.D. Ga.), filed Feb. 10, 2025 — pending.
- Bibiano v. Garrett, No. 3:25-cv-00013 (S.D. Ga.), filed Feb. 13, 2025 — pending (underlying claim settled for $3.2 million).
- 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
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide reports, DOJ investigation coverage, and details on Henson, Arguello-Revelles, Warren, Floyd, Stultz, and the Washington SP riot.
- 13WMAZ — $3.2M Ramirez Bibiano settlement, prison riot reporting, and understaffing allegations.
- 41NBC — Washington SP riot, DOJ findings, and gang-run contraband markets.
- WGXA — drug trafficking indictment from WSP and riot coverage.
- WALB — DOJ investigation findings on systemic GDC failures.
- U.S. Department of Justice — 2026 investigative report on violence and deliberate indifference in Georgia prisons.
- Georgia Department of Public Health death certificates (Washington County) — causes and manners for Henson, Westbrook, and others.
- GBI DOFS Forensic Examination Reports — records-review-only practices for Howard and Krier.
- CourtListener — docket records for listed lawsuits.
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 |
| 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 |
| 3:22-cv-00037 | GASD | 2022-05-02 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
43 people died at facilities under Stewart, Veronica M's leadership.
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