Walker, Gerald

Tenure Summary

Gerald Walker's documented career with the Georgia Department of Corrections stretches from 2011 to the present. State payroll records list him as a Sergeant at Phillips State Prison (2011), a Correctional Officer at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (2015), a CSM Correctional Sergeant (2016, no facility listed), a CSM Correctional Lieutenant at GDCP (2017–2020), and a CSM Correctional Unit Manager at GDCP (2021–2025), with concurrent correctional-officer titles recorded at GDCP in 2024, 2025 and 2026. On April 16, 2026 he moved into a facility-deputy role: Deputy Warden of Security at Baldwin State Prison, a post the records show as ongoing.

Five deaths are attributed to Walker's leadership tenures, and all five occurred at Baldwin State Prison — the only facility in the record where deaths fall inside a leadership posting. Four of the five decedents were in their thirties or forties. The records list no lawsuit naming Walker personally as a defendant, but his Baldwin tenure overlaps two federal civil actions against other GDC staffers, one of them in which a judge ordered the department to preserve evidence.

What happened on their watch

Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Lieutenant (2017–2020), Unit Manager (2021–2025). No deaths are attributed to Walker's GDCP leadership years in the records. The intel files supplied for this profile contain no reports or events dated to those postings; they cover only his Baldwin tenure. His salary in the unit-manager post rose from $51,455.95 in 2021 to $61,754.88 in 2023 and $70,637.83 in 2025.

Baldwin State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security (from April 16, 2026). Five deaths are attributed to this posting, all at Baldwin. In chronological order: James Monroe Dailey, 64, died May 10, 2026; Richard Lyle Timmons, 37, died May 19, 2026; Artinez Rafael Ceaser, 35, died July 3, 2026; Terry Lee Goolsby, 45, died July 15, 2026; and Edward Allen Pitt, 65, died July 24, 2026. The records assign four of the five (Dailey, Timmons, Ceaser and Goolsby) to cause category 6 and Pitt to cause category 1; the categories are not decoded in the source data. Walker held the Deputy Warden of Security role on each of those dates.

Separately, an event dated July 7, 2026 records that a 33-year-old inmate at Baldwin was found dead alone in his cell, pronounced around 7 p.m. though the time of death was determined to be several hours earlier, with the Baldwin County Coroner's Office and GDC's Professional Standards Office investigating and an autopsy scheduled at the GBI Crime Laboratory.

Two intel items from 13WMAZ describe allegations against other Baldwin staff, not against Walker. A report dated April 21, 2026 states that inmate Akeim Burgest filed suit in February 2026 against an officer and a lieutenant, alleging the officer "shanked" him after throwing a water bottle at him and that the lieutenant stood by and watched without intervening. A federal judge ordered GDC to preserve all records related to the case, including camera footage (April 21, 2026). A second 13WMAZ report, dated August 24, 2026, concerns the fatal stabbing of inmate Vincent Dyer and alleges that four Baldwin correctional officers failed to protect him; that Dyer reported threats and asked to be moved shortly before his death; that an officer allowed inmates into his dormitory; that officers did not respond during or after the attack; and that logbook entries failed to accurately document it. An event dated August 24, 2026 records that a Baldwin County jury convicted Traquan Bangs of malice murder in May for the stabbing, sentencing him to life without parole plus five years.

Litigation

• Burgest v. GDC staffers — filed February 2026 in federal court (civil rights action by inmate Akeim Burgest against one officer and one lieutenant over an alleged shanking). A federal judge ordered preservation of all case records, including camera footage, on April 21, 2026. Walker is not named as a defendant in the records.
• Dyer wrongful-death action (as reported by 13WMAZ) — four Baldwin correctional officers sued over the fatal stabbing of Vincent Dyer; the report is dated August 24, 2026. Walker is not named as a defendant in the records.

No lawsuit listing Walker as a defendant appears in the source records.

Sources

• 13WMAZ — reports dated April 21, 2026 (Burgest shanking suit; federal evidence-preservation order) and August 24, 2026 (Dyer fatal stabbing suit; logbook allegations; Bangs conviction)
• Georgia Department of Corrections personnel/payroll records — Walker's position history at Phillips SP, GDCP and Baldwin SP, 2011–2026
• Baldwin County Coroner's Office and GDC Professional Standards Office — investigation logged July 7, 2026 into a Baldwin inmate death
• Baldwin County jury verdict — Traquan Bangs, malice murder, recorded August 24, 2026
• GPS death records for Baldwin State Prison — five deaths attributed to Walker's Deputy Warden of Security tenure (Dailey, Timmons, Ceaser, Goolsby, Pitt)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.