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Thomas, Micheal
Status: active
Profile written September 6, 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
Micheal Thomas’s GPS personnel record tracks a career from counselor roles at Macon State Prison (2010) and Central State Prison (2013), through deputy warden postings from 2016 to 2021, to facility-lead roles as Correctional Superintendent at McEver Probation Detention Center, Warden at Dodge State Prison, and Warden at Wilcox State Prison. GPS’s authoritative count attributes 11 deaths to facility-leader tenures held by Thomas: two at Dodge State Prison and nine at Wilcox State Prison. One federal lawsuit names Thomas as a defendant and remains pending.
What happened on their watch
McEver Probation Detention Center (2022–2023)
GPS records show no deaths attributed to Thomas’s superintendent tenure at McEver, and the provided data include no lawsuits or incident reports naming Thomas at that facility.Dodge State Prison (2024–2025)
GPS records list Thomas as Warden at Dodge State Prison from March 2024 to July 2025. Two deaths are attributed to this posting. Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51, died May 20, 2025; Dodge County coroner notes reviewed by GPS describe a collapse after exercise, low back pain, and multiple antihypertensives, with an autopsy performed. Joseph Chatfield, 62, died June 13, 2025; the coroner left the cause blank pending toxicology after an external exam, according to GPS records. During this tenure, GPS’s incident log also records a $16,000 State of Georgia liability payout tied to Dodge State Prison in 2025, per the Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger. A federal suit, Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, was filed in the Northern District of Georgia on March 4, 2025, while Thomas held the Dodge posting. GPS’s incident log additionally notes an October 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report describing assaults, stabbings, and rapes as routine at understaffed Georgia prisons, a period overlapping Thomas’s Dodge tenure.Wilcox State Prison (2025–present)
GPS records show Thomas as Warden 1 at Wilcox from Jan. 1, 2025, and as Warden from July 16, 2025 onward. Nine deaths are attributed to this tenure. Coroner records reviewed by GPS document: Collis Welch Jr., 55, on Nov. 7, 2025, accidental methamphetamine toxicity; Stacy Ray Bullard, 54, on Nov. 8, 2025, accidental methamphetamine toxicity with coronary artery disease and COPD; Willie Thomas Mosley, 63, on Dec. 1, 2025, natural hypertensive cardiovascular disease; Marcus Walker, 20, on Jan. 10, 2026, homicide by manual strangulation in his cell; Deon Khalil Vanzyre, 28, on Jan. 16, 2026, suicide by hanging in his cell; Jeremy Cole Watson, 37, on Mar. 9, 2026, pending, with Narcan given, suspected overdose, and EMS response around 30 minutes; Earnest Sims, 44, on Mar. 16, 2026, pending, with “smoking strips” noted and seizure onset; Gary Dwayne Felver, 65, on June 15, 2026, without coroner detail in the GPS sample; and Maurice Antonio Brown on Sept. 3, 2026, after GDC confirmed the death to 13WMAZ and 41NBC. The September 2026 death involved a gang-related fight in which seven inmates were hospitalized, two airlifted; Wilcox was placed on lockdown the next day, and the GDC Office of Professional Standards opened an investigation, according to GPS records.A May 12, 2026 public Facebook post, recorded by GPS as an allegation from an unknown author, claimed that under Warden Micheal Thomas, Wilcox locked down inmate movement during on-clock staff gatherings and that basic supply issuance had lapsed for about a year; the poster separately raised a speculative concern about use of the inmate benefit fund. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting summarized in GPS records also relayed family allegations that guards at Wilcox were tied to gangs and that a warden promised a follow-up call after a 2025 killing that never came.
Litigation
- Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, No. 1:25-cv-01155 (N.D. Ga.), filed Mar. 4, 2025; status pending. GPS records list no disposition or outcome amount.
Sources
- GPS personnel, death, and incident records
- Wilcox County Coroner records (Janice B. Brown)
- Dodge County Coroner records
- Georgia DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger
- Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, No. 1:25-cv-01155 (N.D. Ga.), court docket
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on Wilcox allegations and Georgia prison conditions
- 13WMAZ and 41NBC — GDC confirmation of Maurice Brown death
- Facebook (public post) — May 2026 allegation concerning Wilcox State Prison
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden 1 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| Warden | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2025-07-16 → present |
| WARDEN 1 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| Warden | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2024-03-01 → 2025-07-15 |
| WARDEN 1 | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → 2024-02-29 |
| Superintendent | McEVER PROBATION DETENTION CENTER | 2024-01-01 → 2024-02-29 |
| Correctional Superintendent | McEVER PROBATION DETENTION CENTER | 2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22 |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL SUPERINTENDENT | McEVER PROBATION DETENTION CENTER | 2022-01-01 → 2022-12-31 |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2016-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 | |
| Chief Counselor | CENTRAL STATE PRISON | 2013-01-01 → 2013-12-31 |
| Counselor | MACON STATE PRISON | 2010-01-01 → 2010-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:25-cv-01155 | GAND | 2025-03-04 | pending |
Deaths attributed during tenure
11 people died at facilities under Thomas, Micheal's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-03 | Maurice Antonio Brown | — | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2026-06-15 | GARY DWAYNE FELVER | 65 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2026-03-16 | EARNEST SIMS | 44 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2026-03-09 | JEREMY COLE WATSON | 37 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2026-01-16 | DEON KHALIL VANZYRE | 28 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2026-01-10 | MARCUS WALKER | 20 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-12-01 | WILLIE THOMAS MOSLEY | 63 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-11-08 | STACY RAY BULLARD | 54 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-11-07 | COLLIS JR WELCH | 55 | WILCOX STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-06-13 | JOSEPH CHATFIELD | 62 | DODGE STATE PRISON | Warden |
| 2025-05-20 | SOTERO URIQUIZA-HERNANDEZ | 51 | DODGE STATE PRISON | Warden |
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