Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Stokes, David
Stokes, David
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 2026
Salary
$101,142
2025 · state payroll
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
David Stokes built a career inside the Georgia Department of Corrections, moving from correctional officer at Coastal State Prison in 2013 through sergeant and lieutenant ranks before assuming his first facility leadership role in 2024. He served as Correctional Superintendent at the Long Unit for roughly the first half of 2024, then was elevated to Warden at Central State Prison in December 2024, a post he held until May 2026. In June 2026 he was reassigned as Warden at Coastal State Prison. Over these leadership tenures, GPS records attribute a total of 11 deaths to facilities under Stokes’s command — 10 at Central State Prison and 1 at the Long Unit.What happened on their watch
Correctional Superintendent, Long Unit (2024)
Stokes held the top on-site role at the Long Unit for the first half of 2024. During that period, GPS records show one death: Cameron Ryan Paquette, 43, died on February 13, 2024. The death was assigned cause category 6 (homicide). No additional facility-specific allegations or lawsuits linked to Stokes’s brief tenure at the Long Unit appear in the available intelligence record.Warden, Central State Prison (December 2024 – May 2026)
The ten deaths at Central State Prison unfolded steadily across Stokes’s seventeen months as Warden. The decedents ranged in age from 36 to 68. Six deaths were classified as homicides (cause category 6): Brandon Jamal Pool (38, died Dec. 29, 2024), LaMancha Ware (48, March 2, 2025), Travis Jamal Gaither (41, April 21, 2025), Ricky D. Ring (56, July 16, 2025), James Theodore Miller (64, Sept. 22, 2025), and Ronald Goss (60, Oct. 23, 2025). Two deaths were linked to drug-related medical crises: Ricky Eugene Rogers (68, April 21, 2025) was recorded as cause category 5 (“Natural/Drug OD”), and Joseph Hamm (36, Oct. 8, 2025) died of an accidental opiate overdose after a balloon of drugs burst in his mouth during a facility transfer, according to a GPS relayed inmate report. Another death, Matthew Maddox, died Jan. 28, 2025 from cerebral herniation tied to extremely high blood pressure. Finally, Miguel Angel Duran, 44, was found dead by suicide in the segregation unit on March 1, 2026, per an AI-detected Telegram relay.While Stokes was Warden, Central State Prison registered multiple staff‑security breakdowns. In March 2025, three former guards were accused of beating an inmate and attempting a cover‑up. In June 2025, three inmates were charged with stabbing another incarcerated person. That December, a guard faced criminal charges for falsely imprisoning four Department of Family and Children Services employees over a child‑support dispute. In January 2026, an inmate fight prompted a GDC investigation, and another fight earlier that month sent an inmate to the hospital with non‑life‑threatening injuries. Broader contextual findings — the 2024 U.S. Department of Justice investigation concluding that Georgia prisons violate the Eighth Amendment, and Georgia Public Broadcasting reports describing severe understaffing that lets gangs effectively run facilities — apply to the Central State environment on Stokes’s watch.
Warden, Coastal State Prison (June 2026 – present)
Stokes was transferred to Coastal State Prison effective June 1, 2026. At the time of this record, GPS data shows no deaths attributed to Coastal State under his leadership. However, the facility was already the subject of intensive scrutiny: a health inspection in April 2026 scored 70 and cited live roaches, a dead mouse in mop water, mold, and unsafe food temperatures; inmate reports in May 2026 described kitchen closures, meal shortages, and what the reporter called “literally starving us”; WTOC documented workers’ and prisoners’ allegations of a human‑rights crisis, including routine beatings, food withholding as punishment, decomposing infrastructure, and prolonged lockdowns. A federal judge also recently admonished GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver for failing to comply with court orders.Litigation
Stokes is a named defendant in several federal lawsuits filed across his GDC career. GPS records identify the following cases, though none are explicitly tethered to the facility-lead deaths enumerated above:- Emerson v. Clayton County Georgia (1:24‑cv‑04843, N.D. Ga., filed Oct. 23, 2024) – pending.
- Pugh v. Fleming (1:24‑cv‑02733, N.D. Ga., filed June 21, 2024; terminated Aug. 9, 2024).
- Pugh v. Fleming (2:24‑cv‑00074, S.D. Ga., filed June 10, 2024; terminated June 21, 2024).
- Robert M Taylor Iii v. Piedmont Healthcare Inc (1:24‑cv‑00019, S.D. Ga., filed Feb. 16, 2024) – pending.
- Taylor v. University Health Services Inc (1:23‑cv‑00047, S.D. Ga., filed Apr. 19, 2023; terminated Dec. 14, 2023).
- Stuart (1:17‑cv‑00107, S.D. Ga., filed Aug. 28, 2017; terminated Dec. 6, 2018).
- Duckwitz v. Gibson Technical Services Inc (1:12‑cv‑00114, N.D. Ga., filed Jan. 12, 2012; terminated Sept. 27, 2013).
- Redus Georgia Commercial Llc v. Athens Area Ent Llc (1:11‑cv‑04320, N.D. Ga., filed Dec. 13, 2011; terminated June 8, 2012).
Sources
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution – coverage of DOJ homicide findings at Central State Prison (Hollis Alan Bryant, Marquis L. Johnson)
- Georgia Public Broadcasting – reports on six prison deaths in one month, understaffing, and gangs controlling facilities
- 13WMAZ – reports on guard misconduct, inmate fights, and the guard arrested for false imprisonment at Central State
- WTOC – reported human‑rights crisis allegations at Coastal State Prison, including violence, food withholding, and infrastructure decay
- WALB – coverage of assault records and death‑investigation gaps at Coastal State
- The Georgia Virtue – 2026 health inspection citations at Coastal State (live roaches, dead mouse, mold, food‑temperature violations)
- U.S. Department of Justice – 2024 investigation finding Georgia Department of Corrections violates the Eighth Amendment
- Federal court records (CourtListener) – dockets for eight lawsuits naming David Stokes as a defendant
- GPS relay channels – first‑hand inmate reports on deaths (Joseph Hamm overdose, Miguel Duran suicide) and kitchen‑closure/meal‑shortage allegations at Coastal State
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2026-06-01 → present |
| WARDEN 1 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2024-12-16 → 2026-05-31 |
| Superintendent | LONG UNIT | 2024-02-16 → 2024-06-15 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | LONG UNIT | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-15 |
| CORRECTIONAL ASST. SUPT | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2020-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | LONG UNIT | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2017-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER(WL) | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
| Correctional Officer | COASTAL STATE PRISON | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:24-cv-04843 | GAND | 2024-10-23 | pending |
| 1:24-cv-02733 | GAND | 2024-06-21 | terminated |
| 2:24-cv-00074 | GASD | 2024-06-10 | terminated |
| 1:24-cv-00019 | GASD | 2024-02-16 | pending |
| 1:23-cv-00047 | GASD | 2023-04-19 | terminated |
| 1:17-cv-00107 | GASD | 2017-08-28 | terminated |
| 1:12-cv-00114 | GAND | 2012-01-12 | terminated |
| 1:11-cv-04320 | GAND | 2011-12-13 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
11 people died at facilities under Stokes, David's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-01 | MIGUEL ANGEL DURAN | 44 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-10-23 | RONALD GOSS | 60 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-10-08 | JOSEPH HAMM | 36 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-09-22 | JAMES THEODORE MILLER | 64 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-07-16 | RICKY D RING | 56 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-04-21 | RICKY EUGENE ROGERS | 68 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-04-21 | TRAVIS JAMAL GAITHER | 41 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-03-02 | LAMANCHA WARE | 48 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2025-01-28 | Matthew Maddox | — | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | WARDEN 1 |
| 2024-12-29 | BRANDON JAMAL POOL | 38 | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2024-02-13 | CAMERON RYAN PAQUETTE | 43 | LONG UNIT | CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT |
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