West, Sandi R

Tenure Summary

Sandi R. West has held GDC positions since 2003, per GPS records. She began as a Sergeant at Smith State Prison in 2003 and returned as a Lieutenant there in 2011, later serving as CSM Correctional Lieutenant and CSM Correctional Unit Manager at Smith in 2016–2017. She held Unit Manager and Deputy Warden roles at Montgomery State Prison in 2018–2019, served as Deputy Warden at the Women’s Probation Detention Center in 2020, and was listed as Correctional Superintendent in 2021–2023, including a Nov. 22, 2023 entry at the Women’s Probation Detention Center. GPS records place her at Rogers State Prison as Warden 1 from Jan. 1, 2024 to June 15, 2024, then as Warden from June 16, 2024 to May 31, 2026.

GPS attributes six deaths to her leadership tenure, all at Rogers State Prison. No deaths are attributed in the GPS dataset to her earlier Smith State Prison, Montgomery State Prison, or Women’s Probation Detention Center postings.

What happened on their watch

Smith State Prison, Montgomery State Prison, Women’s Probation Detention Center (2003–2023)

GPS records show no deaths attributed to West’s roles at these facilities. The intelligence file contains later allegations about Smith State Prison leadership, naming other officials such as former Warden Brian Adams; those records are outside West’s Smith State Prison postings and do not name her.

Rogers State Prison (Jan. 2024–May 2026)

Six deaths are attributed to West’s facility-leader tenure at Rogers State Prison, per GPS records:

• Shawn Remar Johnson, 34, died July 23, 2024. GPS records note a cause category but provide no narrative cause-of-death detail.
• Taylor Anthony Hunt, 29, died Sept. 28, 2024, per a GBI Medical Examiner report that corrected the date from Sept. 27, 2024. The GBI report lists cause of death as hanging and manner as suicide, with a complete autopsy performed and peer review completed Feb. 21, 2025. Separate GPS intel event logs contain repeated unverified assertions that the official suicide ruling was contradicted by evidence of trauma; the underlying source is not identified.
• David Edward Wood died Feb. 4, 2025. A Tattnall County coroner record lists cause as coronary atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease complicated by Influenza A and parainfluenza virus 1, manner natural, pronounced at Memorial Health Meadows Hospital in Vidalia. The record flags a name discrepancy: the death certificate spells “Wood,” while the GPS database has “Woods.”
• Justin Waymon Hollingsworth, 43, died June 26, 2025. Coroner and GBI Medical Examiner records list cause as hanging and manner as suicide; the GBI limited autopsy was peer reviewed.
• Randy Eugene Stewart, 60, died July 17, 2025. A Tattnall County coroner record lists cause as E. coli peritonitis from perforated duodenum, with contributing conditions including diabetes, hypertension, cirrhosis of the liver, and chronic hepatitis C; manner natural, pronounced at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. The EMR record lists Warden Sandi West under family notification and notes no family contact recorded.
• John Meeks, 49, died Feb. 19, 2026. GPS records note a cause category but provide no narrative cause-of-death detail.

GPS intel records also contain Rogers State Prison witness claims and allegations. In a public Facebook comment from a Georgia prison family group, a formerly incarcerated man claims an H-2 fan motor caught fire and that a warden arrived and discussed attributing the fire to a prisoner; the comment does not name West. Another Facebook comment alleges a civilian dairy-detail supervisor supplied vapes and computer access, then blamed workers. A third alleges a counselor known as “Cowboy” was arrested for bringing drugs and phones into Rogers. A separate GPS allegation entry references a guard stabbing incident at Rogers State Prison with no further detail. These are unverified accounts; the records do not establish their dates or that West was personally involved.

Litigation

• Jackson v. Catanzariti, No. 6:12-cv-00113, filed Dec. 10, 2012 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia; terminated June 28, 2023. GPS records list West as a defendant; no outcome amount is recorded.

Sources

• GPS structured personnel and death records — positions, total deaths attributed, deaths by facility, decedent entries, intel reports, and litigation records.
• Tattnall County coroner records for David Edward Wood, Justin Waymon Hollingsworth, and Randy Eugene Stewart.
• GBI Medical Examiner reports for Taylor Anthony Hunt and Justin Waymon Hollingsworth.
• CourtListener docket for Jackson v. Catanzariti, 6:12-cv-00113.
• Facebook public comments in a Georgia prison family group, archived in GPS intel records for Rogers State Prison.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 6, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.