Thomas, Karen

Tenure Summary

Karen Thomas joined the Georgia Department of Corrections in 2015 as a Corrections Officer and rose steadily through the ranks — Lieutenant (2016–2018), Captain (2019–2020), Correctional Unit Manager (2021–2023) — before being appointed Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison beginning in January 2024, a post she continues to hold as of 2025. GPS records show three deaths attributed to Dodge State Prison during her tenure as Deputy Warden, all falling under cause category 6. No facility assignments are recorded for her earlier unit-supervisor roles, so no deaths are attributed to those postings.

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What Happened on Their Watch

Dodge State Prison — Deputy Warden (January 2024–present)

Thomas has served as Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison through a period that GPS records associate with three in-custody deaths. Kenneth Brown, 58, died on January 31, 2024; Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51, died on May 20, 2025; and Joseph Chatfield, 62, died on June 13, 2025. All three deaths are recorded under cause category 6; no additional notes or cause-of-death detail appear in GPS records for any of the three. The decedents ranged in age from 51 to 62.

GPS records also document two deaths at Dodge State Prison that predate Thomas's appointment as Deputy Warden but occurred while she held a unit-supervisor role at an unspecified facility. Hezekiah Sha'Nard Cuyler, 21, died on September 14, 2022 from blunt force trauma to the head at Dodge State Prison. Douglas Anthony Forts, 57, died on June 2, 2022 from acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a fight at the same facility. GPS records do not confirm Thomas was assigned to Dodge State Prison at the time of those deaths, and no facility is listed for her unit-manager postings in 2022; those events are noted here for institutional context only.

No intel reports tied to Thomas's facilities appear in GPS records. No news mentions referencing Thomas are on file.

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Litigation

The lawsuits listed below name Thomas as a defendant of record per court filings. GPS records do not establish that any of these cases are connected to her GDC duties or to the deaths documented above; case subjects are noted where the docket title indicates one.

• Martinez v. Donahue, 7:20-cv-00062 (GAMD) — filed April 7, 2020; terminated October 16, 2020.
• Little v. City of Thomaston Ga, 5:21-cv-00394 (GAMD) — filed November 5, 2021; terminated December 5, 2022.
• Ross v. White, 3:22-cv-00066 (GASD) — filed June 22, 2022; terminated October 12, 2022.
• Jackson v. White, 3:22-cv-00114 (GASD) — filed September 13, 2022; terminated April 1, 2024.
• Willis v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 5:23-cv-00430 (GAMD) — filed October 26, 2023; terminated January 23, 2026.
• A Philip Randolph Institute v. Raffensperger, 1:24-cv-03412 (GAND) — filed July 31, 2024; terminated March 31, 2026.
• In Re Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Collection, 1:24-md-03115 (GAND) — filed June 7, 2024; pending.

No outcome amounts are recorded for any of these cases in GPS records.

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Sources

• GPS records — positions, salary, and deaths-during-tenure data for Karen Thomas (ID 2634)
• GPS records — intel events: deaths of Hezekiah Sha'Nard Cuyler and Douglas Anthony Forts at Dodge State Prison (2022)
• CourtListener — docket records for all seven civil cases listed above

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.