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Whipple, Tamishia V
Status: active
Profile written August 9, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Tamishia V. Whipple began her career with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a correctional officer in 2015, moving through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and unit manager before being appointed deputy warden at Washington State Prison in 2024. GPS records attribute 27 deaths to the facility during her tenure in that position, spanning from April 2024 to June 2026. The fatalities include multiple homicides, a violent riot that killed four men, drug overdoses, a staff-involved shooting, and deaths from untreated medical conditions — all unfolding against a backdrop of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found “deliberate indifference” to violence, sexual abuse, and systemic neglect inside Georgia’s prisons.What happened on their watch
Whipple’s deputy warden tenure at Washington State Prison began on January 1, 2024. From the outset, the facility recorded deaths that raise questions about safety, medical care, and oversight. In April 2024, Jacob Cole Henson, 31, was shot five times by correctional officers during a fight at an outside hospital, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a Washington County death certificate. The certificate states Henson was “fighting with prison guards” when he sustained multiple gunshot wounds. A GBI autopsy report, obtained by GPS, confirmed the manner as homicide; the report noted Henson arrived at the morgue still shackled and heavily pepper-sprayed. A month later, John Kellom’s death was ruled an accidental methamphetamine intoxication, per the coroner and GBI autopsy. That summer, Torrey Wayne Forrester, 41, died from complications of cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis C — a condition that is curable with standard antiviral treatment, raising questions about the adequacy of medical care.In August 2024, Devonte Williams, 26, died from multiple sharp-force injuries to the torso, head, and neck, per an AJC investigation. The following January, Dontavious Carter died from a puncture wound to the heart, a homicide documented in a GDC-released mortality report. Another homicide occurred in June 2025, when Michael Lareco Daniel, 44, was killed by sharp-force trauma to the head, according to an official death certificate. Throughout 2025, Washington State Prison saw additional confirmed drug deaths — Benjamin Horne from methamphetamine toxicity, Dajhmere Hall from acute oxycodone toxicity — and at least one suicide by hanging, recorded by a family report. In several cases, the GBI declined to perform autopsies, leaving causes undetermined.
The most catastrophic event was the January 2026 riot. On January 11, a gang-affiliated brawl erupted, killing Ahmod Hatcher, 23; Teddy Jackson, 27; and Jimmy Trammell, 42, all from stab wounds, per death certificates and coroner records. Silas Westbrook, 42, sustained stab wounds in the same incident and died six days later; a Washington County death certificate lists the manner as homicide. News reports and inmate accounts cited chronic understaffing, broken locks, and a lack of programming as contributing factors. A day after the riot, a second fight broke out at a nearby facility. The GDC characterized the event as gang-related, but former prisoners told 13WMAZ that gangs control daily life because of absent security — “people carry and use deadly knives daily with no intervention,” one said. Twelve inmates were later charged with murder and related offenses.
Beyond the riot, deaths continued: in February 2026, a user report described two men killing each other in a segregation unit, asking, “Where were the officers?” In June 2026, Isreal Moses Jones, 68, died in what a confidential source described as a retaliation killing; GDC officially classified it a homicide. Around the same weekend, Courtney Davis, 43, died under undetermined circumstances, and Deshawn Poole, 34, died after family members said staff delayed a wellness check and hung up on callers. Throughout this period, a federal investigation revealed that a Washington State Prison inmate, Luis Alfonso Ramirez, ran a drug network from the facility using contraband cellphones, while family reports documented privileged legal mail withheld for weeks beyond policy limits.
These 27 deaths — homicides, overdoses, suicides, and untreated illness — occurred as Washington State Prison was identified as a DOJ-CRIPA facility, with federal investigators describing a “culture of indifference” that allowed violence and drugs to flourish under inadequate staffing and broken infrastructure.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — multiple homicide investigations and DOJ report coverage on Georgia prisons, including the 2026 riot and conditions at Washington State Prison.
- 13WMAZ, 41NBC, WGXA, 11Alive — news reports on the January 2026 riot, inmate deaths, and charges against twelve inmates.
- Washington County death certificates (obtained via coroner records production) — official records for Jacob Henson, Silas Westbrook, Teddy Jackson, Michael Lareco Daniel, and others, confirming homicides and causes.
- GBI Division of Forensic Sciences autopsy reports (obtained via open records requests) — autopsy findings for Henson, Horne, Hall, Forrester, and others.
- GDC January 2025 mortality report (official release) — cause of death data for Dontavious Carter and Robert Washington.
- GPS internal case submissions and user reports — family and witness accounts of slow medical response, suicides, and unreported deaths.
- U.S. Department of Justice CRIPA investigation — findings of deliberate indifference to violence, sexual abuse, and contraband at Georgia prisons, including Washington State Prison.
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | WASHINGTON STATE PRISON | 2024-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2022-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | 2021-01-01 → 2021-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL OFFICER 2 | 2016-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER(WL) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
27 people died at facilities under Whipple, Tamishia V's leadership.
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