Warren, Willesha

Tenure Summary

Willesha Warren's GDC career began in behavioral health: records list her as a BEH Health/Counselor in 2015, a Behavioral Health Counselor 2 in 2016–2017, a Behavioral Health Counselor 3 in 2018–2020, and a Behavioral Health Counselor Supervisor in 2021. In 2022 she moved into facility leadership as Deputy Warden at Smith State Prison, a post she held through 2025; on July 16, 2026 she is recorded as Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment at the same facility.

GPS's death registry attributes 23 deaths to her leadership tenure, all of them at Smith State Prison — 9 homicides, 5 suicides, 2 overdoses, 2 natural/medical, 1 medical neglect, and 4 listed as unknown/pending. No settlement or judgment naming Warren appears in the records provided. The state's own risk management ledger, however, records two liability payouts tied to Smith State Prison during her tenure: $450,000 (Julia Roberts, incident 2023) and $3,472 (Micki Antonio Brown, incident 2022), per the GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden — Smith State Prison, 2022–2025

The 23 deaths span May 14, 2022 to October 25, 2025. Nine were homicides of men aged 30 to 72; five were suicides of men aged 24 to 39; two were overdoses; one, Lawrence Woods, 34, is listed as medical neglect; four remain unknown/pending. The following are the registry entries, by date:

• Michael Lewis Turner died May 14, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Overdose (age 38).
• Jerome Tisdol died May 28, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 67).
• Manuel Villagomez died September 16, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 24).
• Nathan Michael Mahan died October 23, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 37).
• Juan Miguel Orduna died October 25, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 39).
• Randy Wynn died March 1, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 54).
• Boris Ignacio Mejia died March 18, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 29).
• Anthony Joseph Zino died April 5, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 71).
• Calvin Darrell Denson died April 26, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 31).
• Shaquan Jahrel Boykins died May 11, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 31).
• Austin Jacob Witte died July 17, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 33).
• Justin Tyler Smith died July 28, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 37).
• Quenton George Mayo died August 14, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 30).
• Walter Russell Wright died September 26, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 64).
• Lawrence Leon Woods died October 18, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Medical Neglect (age 34).
• James Adams died November 8, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 72).
• Donquerius Lamonte Mahone died February 4, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide (age 37).
• Gineli Antoine Gray died February 9, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 31).
• Jaydrekus Cartez Hart died June 16, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide (age 34).
• Richard Jermine Williams died September 7, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Overdose (age 43).
• Orlando Jordan died September 13, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 36).
• Calvin Bernard Craft died December 14, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending (age 34).
• John Jacobs died October 25, 2025, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical (age 77).

Conditions reported during this tenure: the AJC reported in June 2024 and again in January 2025 that roughly two-thirds of correctional officer positions at Smith were unfilled — 53 officers at a facility designed for 160. The Marshall Project reported in January 2024 that one officer covered an area housing 600 men with no functioning fire extinguishers; the AJC reported in December 2023 that prisoners could be dead in their cells for hours or days before discovery, an allegation consistent with the coroner's finding, reported by the AJC, that Zino's body was badly decomposed when found. A lawsuit over the death of Hiwatha Abdulcah Hakeem Jr. alleges his four attackers had a history of violence and that officials failed to provide timely medical care.

Security failures alleged in reporting include a contraband scheme attributed to inmate Nathan Weekes, who the AJC reports was accused of ordering the mistaken-identity killing of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter; the AJC reported in June 2024 that then-warden Brian Adams was accused of taking cash in that scheme. The GBI arrested Adams on bribery, attempted RICO, false statements and concealment charges, per records dated February 2023. Seven shakedowns at Smith in 2023 recovered 1,509 weapons, 694 cell phones and quantities of marijuana and tobacco, per the records cited. On June 16, 2024, inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot and killed 24-year-old Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace in the prison kitchen before killing himself — an incident the AJC and GPB report prompted a statewide lockdown, a gubernatorial system-wide assessment, and, in a July 2025 lawsuit filed by Deshonda Hagins, allegations that staff had been warned a gun was on the premises and failed to lock down or search. Investigators alleged the firearm was drone-smuggled, per GPB. The U.S. Department of Justice has been scrutinizing GDC since September 2021, per records cited.

Deputy Warden of Care and Treatment — Smith State Prison, from July 16, 2026

Records for this posting include an Atlantic Circuit District Attorney's civil forfeiture complaint seeking $115,710.36 from Jennifer Lynn Thrasher, whom court documents cited by The Georgia Virtue allege carried four bundles of methamphetamine into Smith on August 22, 2026 and smuggled meth over three years; the sentencing of inmate Kelvin Rogers to 96 months and a $500 fine on September 11, 2026; and a September 16, 2026 inmate report that Smith and several other facilities went on lockdown or ran emergency counts.

Litigation

• Hamilton v. Beasley, No. 6:25-cv-00057 (GASD), filed July 22, 2025 — pending; no outcome recorded.
• Daker v. Oliver Filing Restriction Per 59 Order, No. 1:25-cv-03191 (GAND), filed June 6, 2025 — terminated March 30, 2026.
• Daker v. Ward, No. 7:20-cv-00113 (GAMD), filed June 11, 2020 — terminated November 3, 2021.

Sources

• GPS death registry — cause and date for each of the 23 deaths at Smith State Prison, 2022–2025
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — staffing, homicide and contraband reporting (Dec 2023, Jan 2024, June 2024, Sept 2024, Jan 2025, July 2025)
• The Marshall Project — January 2024 officer-shortage investigation at Smith State Prison
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — August 2024 testimony on drones and contraband
• The Georgia Virtue — October 2026 forfeiture complaint alleging contraband at Smith State Prison
• Court records via CourtListener — Hamilton v. Beasley; Daker v. Oliver; Daker v. Ward
• GA DOAS Risk Management settlement ledger (open records) — Roberts ($450,000, 2023); Brown ($3,472, 2022)
• GBI arrest records — former warden Brian Adams, February 2023

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.