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Walker, Martella L

Status: active

Profile written September 6, 2026

Current Position Deputy Warden Of Security Ware State Prison
Salary $71,654 2025 · state payroll
Deaths Under Their Watch 14 during their tenure

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

Martella L. Walker's GDC record begins with a correctional officer posting at Wilcox State Prison in 2002, followed by officer work at Wilcox in 2015, sergeant in 2016–2017, lieutenant from 2018 through 2022, captain in 2023, and unit manager in 2024–2025. Walker became Deputy Warden of Security at Ware State Prison on Sept. 16, 2025; a single-day Deputy Warden record is dated Aug. 27, 2026. GPS records attribute 14 deaths to Ware State Prison during Walker's facility-deputy tenure. No deaths are attributed to Walker's Wilcox State Prison postings, and no lawsuits are listed with Walker as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Wilcox State Prison — earlier postings

GPS records show no deaths attributed to Walker's Wilcox State Prison tenures, which include correctional officer, sergeant, captain, and other roles. Facility-level incidents and allegations in the record — including the 2017 James Wheeler death and $750,000 settlement, a 2023 gang-related fight, and a 2026 Facebook post alleging lockdowns and lapses in inmate-supply issuance — are not tied in the structured data to Walker's documented Wilcox facility-leadership dates.

Ware State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security (Sept. 16, 2025–present)

GPS records attribute 14 deaths to Ware State Prison during this tenure. The death records provided run from Oct. 13, 2025 to July 15, 2026; decedents range in age from 25 to 85. According to Ware County Coroner/GBI DOFS records, five deaths were homicides: Christopher Allen Barrett, 46 (cellmate admitted assault; pipe and knife recovered); Christopher Henry, 48 (blunt force injuries including strangulation); Anthony Terrell Grover, 25 (multiple sharp-force injuries); Justin Dean Pulley, 48 (blunt force injuries and ligature strangulation); and Kojack Junior Thomas, 27 (blunt head trauma and ligature asphyxia). GPS records state the GDC Office of Professional Standards was investigating Thomas's death as a potential homicide.

Coroner records list two suicides: Marty Shawn Wright, 49 (exsanguination from sharp-force trauma) and Johnathan Cleo Hardman-Simmons, 36 (apparent ligature hanging, autopsy pending). Three deaths were natural: Michael Cohen, 68; Carlton Atkins Jones, 55; and Cody Humphrey, 72. For Humphrey, the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences declined examination and issued a declination stating no cause and no manner, per GPS records. Vernon Edward Kennedy, 70, was recorded as an accident following a shower fall. The remaining three deaths — David Randolph Newcomer, 85; Reberto Baez, 69; and David Miller Newman, 60 — are coded cause category 6 in GPS records, with no coroner notes provided.

The records also include Telegram-relay allegations of stabbings and gang-related violence at Ware in spring 2026, with no source publication listed. Older Ware incidents documented in the record — the Aug. 1, 2020 hostage-taking and mass disturbance reported by the AJC, and the 2024 death of DonTavis Mintz, whose mother alleged to GPB that absent counts or welfare checks allowed his body to go undiscovered — predate Walker's Ware posting and are not among the 14 attributed deaths.

Sources

  • GPS personnel, death, and intel records
  • Ware County Coroner / GBI DOFS records
  • Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • Georgia Public Broadcasting
  • U.S. Department of Justice report on Georgia prisons, as referenced in GPS records

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.

Positions Held

TitleFacilityTenure
Deputy WardenWARE STATE PRISON2026-08-27 → present
Deputy Warden of SecurityWARE STATE PRISON2025-09-16 → present
CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER2024-01-01 → present
Correctional CaptainWILCOX STATE PRISON2023-11-22 → 2023-11-22
CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31
CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT2018-01-01 → 2022-12-31
CORRECTIONAL SERGEANTWILCOX STATE PRISON2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31
CORRECTIONS OFFICER(WL)WILCOX STATE PRISON2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31
Correctional OfficerWILCOX STATE PRISON2002-01-01 → 2002-12-31

Deaths attributed during tenure

14 people died at facilities under Walker, Martella L's leadership.

DateDecedentAgeFacilityRole at time
2026-07-15DAVID MILLER NEWMAN60WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-07-09REBERTO BAEZ69WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-06-30DAVID RANDOLPH NEWCOMER85WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-31KOJACK JUNIOR THOMAS27WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-20JOHNATHAN CLEO HARDMAN-SIMMONS36WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-20JUSTIN DEAN PULLEY48WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-11ANTHONY TERRELL GROVER25WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-02-21CODY HUMPHREY72WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-02-12CHRISTOPHER HENRY48WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-01-24CARLTON ATKINS JONES55WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2025-12-12VERNON EDWARD KENNEDY70WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2025-12-01CHRISTOPHER ALLEN BARRETT46WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2025-11-13MARTY SHAWN WRIGHT49WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2025-10-13MICHAEL COHEN68WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security

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