Warren, Willesha

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

Among the homicides documented in the GPS death log and confirmed by the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution’s Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation are Donquerius Mahone (blunt‑force head injury, February 2024), Quenton Mayo (stab wounds to the neck, August 2023), James Adams (blunt‑force trauma to head and neck, November 2023), Anthony Zino (asphyxia, neck compression; his body was badly decomposed when found, April 2023), Justin Tyler Smith (epidural hematoma, July 2023), Shaquan Boykins (blunt impact to head, May 2023), Calvin Denson (stab wound to chest, April 2023), Randy Wynn (homicide, March 2023), and Nathan Mahan (stab wounds, October 2022). Nicholas Shafer’s 2026 death was noted with a source describing that “he’d been beaten and his hands and feet were tied up with an object stuffed in his mouth.” Suicides by hanging included Richard Williams (September 2024), Boris Mejia (March 2023), Juan Orduna (October 2022), and Manuel Villagomez (September 2022), all confirmed by the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office. One death, Lawrence Woods (October 2023), was classified by GPS as medical neglect: he died of acute peritonitis from a perforated ulcer, a condition the GBI medical examiner ruled an accident but which GPS determined was treatable. John Jacobs, who died in October 2025, had a coroner‑certified natural cause (sepsis following abdominal surgery), but the deputy coroner explicitly stated that any in‑custody death “warrants independent third‑party review of all records.” The GBI Division of Forensic Sciences declined to perform an autopsy in several cases, including Jerome Tisdol’s death in May 2022, leaving the cause of death permanently unknown.

The deaths occurred inside a facility that the AJC described as “one of the most understaffed, violent, and dysfunctional” in Georgia, with about two‑thirds of correctional officer positions unfilled. During Warren’s tenure, Smith State Prison was at the center of a sprawling contraband and corruption scandal. The warden, Brian Adams, was arrested in February 2023 on felony charges including violation of Georgia’s RICO Act, bribery, and making false statements; he was later indicted by a Tattnall County grand jury. A correctional officer, Robert Clark, was stabbed to death by an inmate with a homemade weapon in October 2023. In June 2024, inmate Jaydrekus Hart obtained a loaded firearm—which investigators allege was smuggled in by drone—and fatally shot Aramark food service worker Aureon Grace before taking his own life. The incident triggered a system‑wide lockdown of all GDC facilities. Inmate Nathan Weekes is alleged to have used a contraband cell phone from inside the prison to orchestrate three murders, including the mistaken‑identity killing of 88‑year‑old Bobby Kicklighter. News reports and lawsuits repeatedly alleged that understaffing, a porous back gate without a metal detector, and guards’ complicity with contraband networks fed the deadly violence.

Litigation

• Hamilton v. Beasley — U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia (6:25‑cv‑00057, filed July 22, 2025). Pending. Warren is among the defendants.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order — U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (1:25‑cv‑03191, filed June 6, 2025). Terminated March 30, 2026.
• Daker v. Ward — U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia (7:20‑cv‑00113, filed June 11, 2020). Terminated November 3, 2021. (Filed before Warren’s deputy warden tenure.)

Sources

• GPS death database, coroner records, and GBI autopsy reports (including GBI Division of Forensic Sciences cases: 2022‑6003057, 2022‑6002829, 2022‑6006390, 2022‑6005485, 2023‑6001478, 2023‑6005982, 2023‑6006392, 2024‑600…).
• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — “Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation” and multiple reports on violence, understaffing, and the contraband scheme at Smith State Prison.
• The Georgia Virtue — reporting on the Tattnall County grand jury indictment of former Warden Brian Adams and the civil lawsuit alleging facilitation of a criminal enterprise.
• WTOC — report on the system‑wide lockdown following the 2026 altercation at Smith, and the sexual assault charge against a former Smith employee.
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — coverage of drone smuggling and the June 2024 shooting.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Aug 9, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.