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Wilcox, Rickey W
Status: active
Profile written May 31, 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
Rickey W. Wilcox’s career with the Georgia Department of Corrections began in 2015 as a correctional officer, after which he rose through a series of supervisory roles — lieutenant, unit manager, and sergeant — before being appointed deputy warden at Telfair State Prison in 2023. He has held that post into at least early 2026. GPS records attribute a total of 36 deaths to the facility during his leadership tenure there, all of them occurring while he served as deputy warden. Although no lawsuits name Wilcox as a defendant, the deaths under his watch include multiple homicides, a high‑profile heat‑related fatality, and cases that drew state and media attention for extreme staffing shortages and contraband‑driven violence.What happened on their watch
From 2023 through at least March 2026, Wilcox served as deputy warden at Telfair State Prison. During that span, 36 incarcerated people died, according to GPS records. The deaths encompass a heavy concentration of homicides: Malindzo Eddy Hatcher (stab wound of the chest, July 2025), Lester James Smith (stab wound to torso, June 2025), Ezra Dangelo Ford (assault/stabbing, March 2025), Deandre Moody (homicide by strangulation, January 2025), Aaron Joshua Smith (found stabbed in his cell, December 2024), Eric Leigh Whitehead (died after a fight, September 2024), Henry Earl Crump (homicide, September 2024), Zoumana Madiou Sarre (multiple sharp force injuries, July 2024), Lamar Jarmaine Wilson (injuries suffered during a fight, June 2024), Joey Lebron Kilgore (homicide, February 2024), Kwesi Jamal Stultz (multiple head injuries, December 2023), De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd (exsanguination from a stab wound to the neck, April 2023), and Preston C. Phelps (killed in a gang fight, December 2025). Additional deaths included an apparent suicide by hanging, a suspected drug overdose, and several cases in which the cause remained pending as of the coroner’s record.Among the most publicized incidents, Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano died on July 20, 2023, after officers left him in an outdoor recreation cage for five hours in a 105‑degree heat index; he reached the hospital with an internal temperature of 107°F, and GDC reported his death as “natural causes,” per GPS records.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a claim filed against the state alleged Floyd was stabbed while no prison staff were present in the dorm, and that he had renounced his gang affiliation, leaving him vulnerable to attacks. The same investigation noted that Telfair State Prison was missing 79% of its correctional officer positions, leaving only 32 officers to supervise roughly 1,400 prisoners. Violence was not confined to the population: in March 2024, the facility warden was stabbed by an inmate during a contraband shakedown, underscoring the pervasiveness of weapons and disorder. A separate federal prosecution, Operation Ghost Busted, revealed that Sergeant Desiree Briley had smuggled meth into the prison for distribution over at least two years; she was sentenced to 18 months, highlighting the role of staff corruption in the facility’s lethal environment. Despite the volume of deaths and documented failures, GPS records show no litigation naming Wilcox as a defendant arising from his tenure as deputy warden.
Litigation
No lawsuits listing Wilcox as a defendant were found in GPS records.Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (provided details on multiple Telfair homicides, the claim filed concerning De’ahmoz Oshmic Floyd, and severe understaffing at the facility)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — “Ga. prisons get $600M for overhaul…” (March 2025 report on Telfair’s 79% officer vacancy rate)
- Telfair County Coroner records — cause, manner, and circumstances of numerous deaths, as compiled by Georgia Prisoners’ Speak
- GPS intelligence database — incident logs (Preston Phelps homicide investigation, warden‑stabbing, Operation Ghost Busted, Briley sentencing)
- 13WMAZ, WTOC, WGXA — reporting on individual deaths, including Aaron Smith and Preston Phelps
- Solitary Watch — historical allegations of violence and heat shut‑offs not contemporaneous with Wilcox’s tenure
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | 2024-01-01 → present | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | TELFAIR STATE PRISON | 2023-01-01 → present |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL OFFICER 2 | 2020-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2020-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONAL OFC 1 | 2019-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2016-01-01 → 2019-12-31 | |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
36 people died at facilities under Wilcox, Rickey W's leadership.
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