Watson, Kochelle

Tenure Summary

What happened on their watch

Johnson State Prison — Deputy Warden (2019‑2021)
Watson’s first facility‑leadership role came when they served as Deputy Warden of Johnson State Prison starting in 2019. On November 12, 2020, Jerry L. Brown, 61, died from stab wounds to the head and blunt‑force facial injuries, a death the Atlanta Journal‑Constitution lists as a homicide. The most heavily scrutinized fatality occurred on October 16, 2021, when David Lamar Henegar, 44, was beaten and strangled to death by his cellmate. The AJC reported that a lawsuit alleged Henegar was housed with a mentally ill cellmate who had attacked him before, and that prison staff ignored hours of screaming and pleas for help from Henegar and neighboring prisoners. The state settled the family’s suit for $4 million in March 2026 on the eve of trial. The cellmate, Antone Hinton‑Leonard, was charged with murder and awaits trial. Other deaths recorded during Watson’s deputy‑warden tenure included those of Horace Kittles, Tommy Henderson, Michael Crews, and more than a dozen other individuals, predominantly classified as natural‑cause or other deaths.

Emanuel Probation Detention Center — Correctional Superintendent (2022)
Watson held the top post at Emanuel PDC throughout 2022. No in‑custody deaths were attributed to the facility that year.

Johnson State Prison — Warden (2024‑present)
Watson returned to Johnson as Warden (first as Warden 1) in January 2024 and remains in that role. Homicides have continued: Kenneth Adam Robinson, 50, died on August 10, 2024, in what incident reports describe as a homicide; Kevin Kosturi, 29, died on December 13, 2024, and Justin Brandon Hulett, 38, died on February 12, 2025, both classified as homicides per GPS records. In 2026, a death on March 28 involved 76‑year‑old Dale Way, followed on April 18 by the death of Marries Mckay, for which initial reports of suicide were contradicted by witness accounts of a sudden collapse. Earlier that year, Michael Elias Peschel, 36, sustained 20 stab wounds from a cellmate who, according to GPS case notes, should have been housed alone after a prior confrontation. Phillip Lamar Byrd, 46, was reportedly beaten, left outside in the cold, and then injected with drugs by gang members until he overdosed, according to Telegram relay sources. In April 2026, multiple reports surfaced that contaminated food trays were causing illness among incarcerated people because of degraded dishwashing infrastructure.

Litigation

• Wade v. Morgan, No. 3:23‑cv‑00073 (S.D. Ga., filed Aug. 31, 2023) — pending; Watson is a named defendant.
• Wright v. Watson, No. 2:24‑cv‑00261 (N.D. Ga., filed Nov. 7, 2024) — pending.
• Hardaway v. Watson, No. 1:26‑cv‑01564 (N.D. Ga., filed Mar. 24, 2026) — pending.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — multiple homicide reports, investigation into David Henegar’s death, and $4 million settlement coverage
• GPS intelligence records — 66 deaths attributed to Johnson State Prison during Watson’s deputy‑warden and warden tenures
• Federal court dockets (CourtListener) — Wade v. Morgan, Wright v. Watson, Hardaway v. Watson
• Telegram relay reports — Phillip Lamar Byrd death details, Marries Mckay conflicting accounts
• GDC auto‑populated data — deaths of Michael Peschel, Justin Hulett, Kevin Kosturi, and others

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.