Warren, Willesha

Tenure Summary

Willesha Warren's career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in 2015 in behavioral health, working as a counselor (2015–2020) and then a behavioral health counselor supervisor (2021) in positions the records list without a facility assignment. In 2022 she moved into custody leadership as Deputy Warden at Smith State Prison, the post she holds through the most recent entry in her personnel record. That record lists her status as active.

GPS attributes 26 deaths to Warren's leadership tenure, all of them at Smith State Prison. Homicide is the most frequent cause the registry records for the period, followed by suicide, with medical neglect, natural/medical causes, overdose and undetermined causes also listed. Two state liability payouts are tied to Smith State Prison incidents inside that window — $450,000 in a 2023 matter involving Julia Roberts and $3,472 in a 2022 matter involving Micki Antonio Brown, according to the Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger obtained through open records. The ledger ties those payouts to the facility and incident year, not to any individual official.

What happened on their watch

Deputy Warden, Smith State Prison (2022 through the most recent listed date)

Deaths during this tenure, as named in GPS's death registry:

2022

• Michael Lewis Turner died May 14, 2022, at Smith State Prison; GPS's death records list him for this tenure.
• Jerome Tisdol died May 28, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 67.
• Manuel Villagomez died September 16, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 24.
• Nathan Michael Mahan died October 23, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 37.
• Juan Miguel Orduna died October 25, 2022, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 39.

2023

• Randy Wynn died March 1, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 54.
• Boris Ignacio Mejia died March 18, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 29.
• Anthony Joseph Zino died April 5, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 71.
• Calvin Darrell Denson died April 26, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 31.
• Shaquan Jahrel Boykins died May 11, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 31.
• Austin Jacob Witte died July 17, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 33.
• Justin Tyler Smith died July 28, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 37.
• Quenton George Mayo died August 14, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 30.
• Walter Russell Wright died September 26, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 64.
• Lawrence Leon Woods died October 18, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Medical Neglect. He was 34.
• James Adams died November 8, 2023, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 72.

2024

• Donquerius Lamonte Mahone died February 4, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 37.
• Gineli Antoine Gray died February 9, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 31.
• Jaydrekus Cartez Hart died June 16, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Suicide. He was 34.
• Richard Jermine Williams died September 7, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Overdose. He was 43.
• Orlando Jordan died September 13, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 36.
• Calvin Bernard Craft died December 14, 2024, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 34.

2025

• John Jacobs died October 25, 2025, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Natural/Medical. He was 77.

2026

• Nicholas Shafer died February 8, 2026, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Homicide. He was 24.
• Dwayne Eric Albritton died March 12, 2026, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Medical Neglect. He was 65.
• Dreeonnie Lee Hart died May 14, 2026, at Smith State Prison; the registry lists the cause as Unknown/Pending. He was 25.

Among the deaths the registry names for this tenure, ten are listed as Homicide, four as Suicide, two as Medical Neglect, two as Natural/Medical, one as Overdose and six as Unknown/Pending — meaning GPS does not yet know the cause in those six cases.

Understaffing runs through the reporting from this period, with Warren holding the Deputy Warden role at the time. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in January 2025 that two-thirds of correctional officer positions at Smith State Prison were unfilled — 53 officers at a facility designed for 160. The Marshall Project reported in January 2024 on officer Andrew Phillips, the only officer assigned to an area housing 600 men, with no functioning fire extinguishers when inmates set mattresses on fire, and described staff too depleted to care for inmates in conditions called "too brutal, too disgusting"; the same reporting said incarcerated people waited long periods for medical appointments, went weeks without recreation, and that Georgia staff were so short-handed they failed to notice a decomposing body for five days. An AJC opinion piece in December 2023 said that as of August 2023, 70% or more of correctional officer jobs were vacant at eight state prisons, that 425 employees had been arrested since 2018 for on-the-job crimes, and that prisoners could be dead in their cells for hours or days before anyone noticed.

The AJC also reported that Smith State Prison inmate Nathan Weekes is alleged to have run a contraband scheme from inside the prison, to have ordered a hit on a correctional officer that resulted in the mistaken-identity killing of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter, and to be tied to two other murders outside the prison; the then-warden, Brian Adams, was arrested in 2023 and charged with bribery, criminal attempt under Georgia's RICO Act, false statements and writings, and concealment of facts, and bonded out of the Tattnall County Jail on February 9, 2023, per the GBI. Seven shakedowns at Smith in 2023 recovered 1,509 weapons, 694 cell phones, 7.55 kilos of marijuana and 12.53 kilos of tobacco, per the event records. Correctional Officer Robert Danford Clark, 42, died October 1, 2023, from multiple stab wounds after being attacked by an inmate, according to a death certificate record cited in those records. The Marshall Project and AJC reporting also documented a record 37 prison homicides in Georgia in 2023 and 40 homicides and 38 suicides statewide in fiscal year 2023.

Two deaths in the reporting carried specific allegations about warning signs. The AJC reported that Desmond Hill called his mother the day before his death to say his cellmate had threatened to kill him, and that Anthony Joseph Zino's body was badly decomposed and he had likely been dead for days before being discovered, which the reporting characterized as a failure to monitor. 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 and adequate medical care after the assault.

On June 16, 2024, inmate Jaydrekus Hart shot and killed Aramark food service worker Aureon Shavea Grace, 24, in the Smith State Prison kitchen at 4:30 a.m., then shot himself; the GDC locked down all its prisons and cancelled visitations. Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that investigators allege someone used a drone to smuggle the firearm. A lawsuit filed July 21, 2025, by Deshonda Hagins in Fulton County State Court against the GDC alleges staff were repeatedly warned by inmates that a gun was on the premises but failed to initiate a lockdown, conduct an extensive search or put protective measures in place, that no guards were in the area where Grace was shot, and that Hart — who was not authorized to be in the kitchen — was allegedly favored by staff and permitted to violate rules. The AJC reported that after Grace's death the GDC accused Grace of helping Hart smuggle the gun in, which her mother denies, saying the gun was there before Grace started the job. The AJC also reported that the state prison system has been under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice since September 2021.

Litigation

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

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — reporting on the June 2024 Smith State Prison shooting and the Hagins lawsuit (July 21, 2025), the gun-smuggling investigation, the Weekes contraband scheme, prison homicides in Georgia, and an opinion piece on prison corruption (December 30, 2023)
• Georgia Public Broadcasting — Senate study committee testimony and drone smuggling allegations (August 30, 2024)
• The Marshall Project — correctional officer shortage, overtime and conditions at Smith State Prison (January 10, 2024)
• WTOC — report on a former Smith State Prison employee charged with sexual assault (May 1, 2025)
• Georgia Department of Administrative Services Risk Management settlement ledger (obtained through open records) — Julia Roberts payout, 2023; Micki Antonio Brown payout, 2022
• Court records via CourtListener dockets — Hamilton v. Beasley; Daker v. Oliver; Daker v. Ward
• GPS death registry — causes, dates, ages and facilities for the deaths recorded during Warren's tenure as Deputy Warden
• Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrest record for former Smith State Prison warden Brian Adams (February 9, 2023)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Oct 4, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.