Thomas, Karen

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

Dodge State Prison — Deputy Warden (2024–2025 salary years). The four deaths attributed to Thomas’s Dodge tenure are listed as follows. Kenneth Brown, 58, was found dead in his cell on January 31, 2024; the Dodge County Coroner’s record describes the death as suicide by hanging. Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51, died on May 20, 2025; coroner records reviewed by GPS state he became agitated with low back pain after working out, collapsed, and was pronounced dead at 23:03, with an autopsy performed. Joseph Chatfield, 62, died on June 13, 2025; the coroner’s record left the cause blank and ordered toxicology after an external exam. Warren Peacock, 70, died on April 28, 2026; the coroner’s record lists chronic hypertension, kidney disease, COPD, and diabetes and says the body was released to the GBI with autopsy and toxicology pending. GPS records note that a later GBI open-records response, dated August 1, 2026, could not locate matching responsive records. The listed Peacock incident date falls after the last recorded 2025 salary-year entry for Thomas’s Dodge posting, though the record lists her role at the time as deputy warden.

The Dodge State Prison facility intelligence feed also records a pair of 2022 deaths at the prison: Douglas Anthony Forts, 57, died June 2, 2022, from acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a fight, and Hezekiah Sha’Nard Cuyler, 21, died September 14, 2022, from blunt force trauma to the head. These predate Thomas’s recorded deputy warden posting and are not part of the four deaths attributed to her leadership tenure. A State of Georgia liability payout of $16,000 tied to a 2025 Dodge State Prison incident and recorded May 26, 2025, appears in the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger under the name Kimyania Smith; the underlying claim is not described in the file.

Litigation

• Jackson v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00114 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia), filed September 13, 2022; terminated April 1, 2024; no outcome amount recorded.
• Ross v. White, No. 3:22-cv-00066 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia), filed June 22, 2022; terminated October 12, 2022; no outcome amount recorded.

The GPS file lists both cases as defendant suits, but the case captions name White rather than Thomas, and the records do not specify Thomas’s role in either case.

Sources

• GPS personnel file for Karen Thomas (ID 2634) and Dodge State Prison facility intelligence records
• Dodge County Coroner open-records responses, dated June 30, 2026, via GPS records
• Georgia Bureau of Investigation open-records response, dated August 1, 2026, via GPS records
• Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (Open Records), via GPS records
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia dockets via CourtListener: Jackson v. White (3:22-cv-00114) and Ross v. White (3:22-cv-00066)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 16, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.