Walker, Martella L

Tenure Summary

Martella L. Walker's GDC record begins in 2002 as a correctional officer at Wilcox State Prison, returns there as a corrections officer in 2015, and runs through sergeant (2016–2017), lieutenant (2018–2022), captain (2023) and correctional unit manager (2024–2025). On September 16, 2025, Walker became Deputy Warden of Security at Ware State Prison; a further Ware State Prison record dated August 27, 2026 lists the title Deputy Warden. Walker is listed as active.

All 17 deaths in GPS's death registry attributed to Walker's leadership tenures occurred at Ware State Prison, every one of them while Walker held the Deputy Warden of Security post, between October 13, 2025 and September 13, 2026. The registry records five of those deaths as homicides, three as suicides, three as natural/medical, one as an accident, and five as unknown/pending. No lawsuit naming Walker as a defendant appears in the records reviewed.

What happened on their watch

Wilcox State Prison — correctional officer (2002; 2015), correctional sergeant (2016–2017); correctional captain, one record dated November 22, 2023. Records show these positions and dates only.

Supervisory postings without a facility listed — correctional lieutenant (2018–2022), correctional captain (2023), correctional unit manager (2024–2025). Records show these positions and dates only.

Ware State Prison — Deputy Warden of Security, from September 16, 2025. GPS's registry attributes 17 deaths at Ware to this tenure. In chronological order: Michael Cohen died October 13, 2025, at Ware State Prison, age 68; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. Marty Shawn Wright died November 13, 2025, at Ware State Prison, age 49; Suicide. Christopher Allen Barrett died December 1, 2025, at Ware State Prison, age 46; Homicide. Vernon Edward Kennedy died December 12, 2025, at Ware State Prison, age 70; Accident. Carlton Atkins Jones died January 24, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 55; Natural/Medical. Christopher Henry died February 12, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 48; Homicide. Cody Humphrey died February 21, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 72; Natural/Medical. Anthony Terrell Grover died May 11, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 25; Homicide. Justin Dean Pulley died May 20, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 48; Homicide. Johnathan Cleo Hardman-Simmons died May 20, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 36; Suicide. Kojack Junior Thomas died May 31, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 27; Homicide. David Randolph Newcomer died June 30, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 85; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. Reberto Baez died July 9, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 69; Unknown/Pending. David Miller Newman died July 15, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 60; Unknown/Pending. Percy Lee Burdine died August 6, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 44; Unknown/Pending. David Allan Dowling died August 9, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 69; Unknown/Pending. David Wayne Williams died September 13, 2026, at Ware State Prison, age 57; Suicide.

Cases submitted to GPS covering these months describe repeated violence at Ware: five people stabbed (report dated May 15, 2026); a gang-related incident with multiple injured and several taken to an outside hospital (May 21, 2026); multiple stabbings and a report of gang violence alongside a statewide lockdown tied to rival gang conflict (May 18–22, 2026); reports of "multiple killings and stabbings," with beatings reportedly not counted as formal incidents (May 23, 2026); a guard stabbed (July 10, 2026); and a gang-related altercation in which multiple incarcerated people were stabbed, at least one in serious condition (August 3, 2026). A September 13, 2026 Telegram group report described an incarcerated person at Ware dying by suicide days after being placed in segregation and questioned the circumstances; the same day's submissions include a person stating they expected violence and threatened to fight. A September 18, 2026 submission states Ware was off lockdown in 2026. A report dated January 28, 2026 and sourced to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution states that GDC publicly described the August 1, 2020 Ware incident as a "disturbance," while internal records describe hostage-taking, escape attempts, assaults and use of force.

Separately, records dated within the tenure note the GDC Office of Professional Standards leading the investigation into Thomas's death, with the body sent to the GBI crime lab (June 2, 2026); a July traffic stop and a July seizure of contraband believed headed to Ware, reported September 6, 2026 by the Butts County Sheriff's Office; and a March 17, 2026 federal ruling on Georgia's parole process for juvenile lifers, an event naming Janice Buttrum.

Sources

• GPS death registry — cause and date for each of the 17 deaths listed above
• GPS case submissions (incarcerated-person, Telegram group, and family/community reports) — stabbing, gang-violence and lockdown reports at Ware State Prison, 2026
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on GDC's characterization of the August 1, 2020 Ware State Prison incident
• GDC Office of Professional Standards — investigation of the death of Kojack Junior Thomas, via GPS event record
• Butts County Sheriff's Office — July contraband seizure and traffic stop tied to Ware State Prison, via GPS event record

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Nov 1, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.