Thompson, Melissa

Tenure Summary

Melissa Thompson has worked within the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2015, rising from a general corrections administration role through several years as an Assistant Superintendent before ascending to Correctional Superintendent — a facility-lead accountability tier — by 2019. GPS records show she has held that top-facility rank continuously through at least early 2026. The sole facility explicitly linked to her superintendent tenure in GPS records is Whitworth Women's Facility, where one death is attributed to her leadership period.

What Happened on Their Watch

Whitworth Women's Facility — Correctional Superintendent (2025–present)

GPS records attribute one death to Thompson's tenure at Whitworth Women's Facility. On January 10, 2025, Rhianna Woods died at the facility while Thompson held the Correctional Superintendent role. The death certificate, per GPS records, lists the cause as acute respiratory failure and a possible drug overdose. Woods's age at the time of death is not recorded in available GPS records. No lawsuits have been filed naming Thompson as a defendant, no intelligence reports document conditions at Whitworth during her tenure, and no news coverage of the incident appears in GPS records.

GPS records do not specify which facility or facilities Thompson served as superintendent from 2019 through 2024, and no deaths are attributed to those earlier postings in the current dataset.

Sources

• GPS records — death record for Rhianna Woods, Whitworth Women's Facility, January 10, 2025
• GPS records — personnel and salary history for Thompson, Melissa (ID 4200), 2015–2025
• GPS records — deaths attributed by facility and tenure, Whitworth Women's Facility

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 22, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.