Home › Intelligence › Personnel Accountability › Walker, Martella L

Walker, Martella L

Status: active

Profile written May 31, 2026

Current Position Deputy Warden Of Security Ware State Prison
Salary $71,654 2025 · state payroll
Deaths Under Their Watch 12 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 has served in the Georgia Department of Corrections since at least 2002, beginning as a correctional officer at Wilcox State Prison. After a gap in the record, Walker returned to Wilcox in 2015 and rose through the ranks—sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and unit manager—over the next decade. On September 16, 2025, Walker was appointed Deputy Warden of Security at Ware State Prison, the first facility-level leadership role of their career. GPS records attribute 12 deaths to Walker’s tenure in that position, all occurring at Ware State Prison between October 2025 and May 2026. No lawsuits have been filed against Walker as a defendant.

What happened on their watch

Walker’s only facility-leadership posting is as Deputy Warden of Security at Ware State Prison, starting September 16, 2025. During the subsequent eight months, 12 people died in the facility. According to GPS death records, the first was Michael Cohen, age 68, on October 13, 2025; the last two were Justin Pulley, 49, and an unidentified man recorded as “John Doe 2 – Ware SP,” both on May 21, 2026. The documented deaths include several explicitly attributed to violence between incarcerated people: Jonathan Zimmons was “killed by cellmate” on May 19, 2026; Christopher Barrett was “killed by his cellmate in the hole” on December 1, 2025; and the death of “Juice” (identified as David Spottem) on May 11, 2026, was also linked to a violent altercation. Other deaths—such as those of Cody Humphrey, Carlton Atkins Jones, Vernon Edward Kennedy, and Marty Shawn Wright—carry a cause category of 6, which may indicate natural causes or undetermined manner.

Walker entered this role at a prison already notorious for lethal violence. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that ten men were killed at Ware between July 2020 and August 2024. A massive disturbance on August 1, 2020, involved hostage-taking, escape attempts, and the use of dozens of homemade weapons; the GDC publicly described it merely as a “disturbance,” per AJC reporting. Georgia Public Broadcasting highlighted a mother’s allegation that no welfare checks were conducted, allowing her son DonTavis Mintz’s body to go undiscovered for days in 2024. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation had previously concluded that Georgia’s prisons, including Ware, were gang-run and riddled with violence and sexual assault. These systemic failures formed the backdrop for Walker’s tenure, which saw deaths continue—including at least four people killed by other incarcerated individuals in a six-month span.

Sources

  • GPS death records — 12 deaths at Ware State Prison during Walker’s tenure as Deputy Warden of Security (2025–2026).
  • Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Ga. prison homicides: A list of those killed in Georgia’s prison system” (published 2026, covering Ware homicides 2020–2024).
  • Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Prisons transparency” report on the August 2020 Ware disturbance and GDC’s public characterization of the incident.
  • Georgia Public Broadcasting — “The federal Department of Justice: Deliberate indifference, violence in Georgia” (2024, containing the allegation about welfare checks at Ware).
  • U.S. Department of Justice — 2024 report on gang-run Georgia prisons with regular violence and sexual assault (referenced in AJC reporting).

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 31, 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 Warden of SecurityWARE STATE PRISON2025-09-16 → present
CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER2024-01-01 → present
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

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

DateDecedentAgeFacilityRole at time
2026-05-21JUSTIN DEAN PULLEY49WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-21John Doe 2 - Ware SP—WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-19Jonathan Zimmons—WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-11Juice—WARE STATE PRISONDeputy Warden of Security
2026-05-11grover—WARE 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

Submit a correction

If you are the named individual or an authorized representative and dispute information on this page, submit details below. Substantiated corrections are applied promptly. Disputes that remain unresolved are flagged on the profile.

Report a Problem