Thomas, Micheal

Tenure Summary

Micheal Thomas entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a counselor at Macon State Prison in 2010, per GPS personnel records, then served as chief counselor at Central State Prison (2013) and in a behavioral-health counselor post (2015). He was a deputy warden from 2016 through 2021 — the records do not identify the facility for those years — before becoming correctional superintendent at McEver Probation Detention Center (2022–2023). GPS records list him as warden at Dodge State Prison across entries spanning Jan. 1, 2024 to July 15, 2025, and as warden at Wilcox State Prison from July 16, 2025 onward, with a further Wilcox entry dated Aug. 27, 2026.

GPS attributes 11 deaths to Thomas's facility-leadership tenures: 9 at Wilcox State Prison and 2 at Dodge State Prison. No deaths are attributed to his McEver superintendency or his deputy-warden years. He is the named defendant in one pending federal lawsuit. Separately, a Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger records a $16,000 state liability payout tied to Dodge State Prison (2025 incident).

What happened on their watch

Dodge State Prison — Warden (2024–July 2025). Two deaths are attributed to this tenure, both recorded in 2025. Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51, collapsed on May 20, 2025 after being described as "worked out, agitated, low back pain," and was pronounced at 23:03; the Dodge County Coroner's ORR record documents an autopsy, and the death is classified cause category 1 (natural). Joseph Chatfield, 62, was last known alive at 06:45 and pronounced at 09:20 on June 13, 2025; the coroner's ORR record notes an external exam only, toxicology ordered, and the cause left blank — GPS keeps it as unknown/pending. A $16,000 GDC settlement tied to Dodge (incident year 2025) appears in the GA DOAS Risk Management ledger, dated May 26, 2025.

Wilcox State Prison — Warden (July 16, 2025 – present). Nine deaths are attributed to this tenure. Two are accidental methamphetamine-toxicity deaths documented by the Wilcox County Coroner: Collis Jr. Welch, 55 (Nov. 7, 2025, open dorm) and Stacy Ray Bullard, 54 (Nov. 8, 2025). Willie Thomas Mosley, 63, was ruled natural (hypertensive cardiovascular disease, Dec. 1, 2025). Marcus Walker, 20, died Jan. 10, 2026 by manual strangulation in his cell; the coroner corroborated the homicide classification, which GPS sourced to a social-media report (Ga. Prisons Exposed). Deon Khalil Vanzyre, 28, died by hanging in his cell Jan. 16, 2026, corroborated as suicide; the source was the Human and Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia. Four deaths remain pending or unresolved: Jeremy Cole Watson, 37, found dead in the "hole" (J building) on March 9, 2026 after failing to rise for a meal, with Narcan given and a suspected overdose; Earnest Sims, 44, March 16, 2026, with "smoking strips" noted and seizure onset; Gary Dwayne Felver, 65, June 15, 2026; and Maurice Antonio Brown, added Sept. 3, 2026 after a gang-related fight in which seven inmates were hospitalized and two airlifted. Wilcox was placed on lockdown Sept. 4, 2026, and the Brown death is under investigation by GDC's Office of Professional Standards with the body sent to the GBI Crime Lab.

Additional intel records from his Wilcox tenure include an April 2, 2026 report of multiple stabbings resulting in a lockdown, a March 8, 2026 gang fight with nine hospitalized, and a May 12, 2026 public Facebook post alleging lockdowns of inmate movement during on-clock staff gatherings and roughly a year's lapse in basic supply issuance. AJC reporting on the Sept. 16, 2025 killing of Dominique Cole at Wilcox — the only decedent for whom no GPS death row appears — alleges that "the warden" promised the family a follow-up call that never came and that Cole said guards were tied to gangs; the articles reference the warden's office without naming Thomas, a role GPS records show he held at the time.

Litigation

• Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas, No. 1:25-cv-01155 (N.D. Ga., filed March 4, 2025) — pending; no recorded disposition or payout. Filed while Thomas was warden at Dodge State Prison per GPS position records.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia prison homicide reporting; Sept. 2025 coverage of Wilcox State Prison deaths and family accounts
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — December 2023 reporting on staffing shortages and prison violence
• 13WMAZ — Central State Prison and Macon State Prison incident coverage
• Wilcox County Coroner (Janice B. Brown) records — cases 2025-1201-48, 2025-1107-45, 2025-1109-46, 2026-0110-04, 2026-0116-06, 2026-0309-14, 2026-0316-15
• Dodge County Coroner ORR records (June 30, 2026)
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — $16,000 Dodge State Prison payout
• U.S. Department of Justice report on Georgia prison conditions (October 2024)
• CourtListener docket 70648414 — Goodwin v. Warden Micheal Thomas
• Human and Civil Rights Coalition of Georgia; Ga. Prisons Exposed (social media); public Facebook post
• CBS News Miami; Solitary Watch

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 13, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.