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Williams, JOE
Status: active
Profile written August 30, 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
Joe Williams began his Georgia Department of Corrections career as a corrections officer at Hancock State Prison in 2015, then served as a sergeant there in 2016. He later held CSM lieutenant, captain, and unit manager posts, often alongside food service supervisor roles, before becoming a deputy warden in 2021–2022. GPS records show he entered facility leadership in 2023, serving as WARDEN 1 that year, as Warden at the Special Management Unit from May 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024, and as WARDEN 2 at Hancock State Prison in 2025; a one-day Deputy Warden entry at Hancock is recorded for August 27, 2026.GPS records attribute 13 deaths to facility-leader tenures held by Williams — 11 at Hancock State Prison and 2 at the Special Management Unit. Two lawsuits appear under Williams’s defendant record, both in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
What happened on their watch
Special Management Unit (Warden, May 2023–December 2024)
GPS records attribute two deaths at the Special Management Unit during Williams’s warden tenure: Ricardo Castavio Daughtry, 41, on June 10, 2024, and Emilio Christopher Canales, 40, on October 22, 2024. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported allegations that GDC failed to check on Daughtry for nearly seven hours before his body was found, despite a policy requiring checks every 30 minutes, and that prison records showed Daughtry attending “table time,” recreation, and the book cart after he had been pronounced dead. AJC reporting also described falsified and backdated prisoner review forms at the SMU. The October 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report on Georgia prisons, issued during this tenure, described facilities as inhumane and understaffed, according to AJC and GPS records.Hancock State Prison (WARDEN 2, 2025; attributed deaths recorded through 2026)
GPS records attribute 11 Hancock deaths to Williams’s leadership tenure, with decedents listed from January 30, 2025 through July 30, 2026. On January 30, 2025, William Holeman and Prince Porter were found dead in the same dorm about 15–20 feet apart after what incident records describe as gang-related violence; GDC’s released January 2025 mortality report listed both as homicide, undetermined/awaiting autopsy. Later attributed decedents include John T. Childree, 60, on April 9, 2025; Corey Jose July on June 17, 2025 — a Hancock County jury subsequently convicted Vershaun Smith of malice murder in that stabbing, according to 41NBC; Brian Smith, 30, on July 24, 2025; and Andre Rashad Weems, 36, on September 9, 2025, with GPS research noting eight people charged and a grand jury no-bill.The 2026 decedents attributed to Williams’s Hancock leadership record are Steven Monroe Wood, 54, beaten in his cell on January 25; Jaylin Bell, 32, killed February 6 in an altercation with a roommate, per 41NBC and GPS notes; Jerrod Johnson, 27, fatally stabbed February 18; Jacorey Derrelle Pearson, 36, on April 7; and Albert Chapa, 57, on July 30. GPS incident records also note multiple January 2026 fights at Hancock, including a January 12 incident in which five inmates were stabbed and two were airlifted.
Litigation
- Hall v. Shepard, No. 5:23-cv-00205, Middle District of Georgia, filed June 8, 2023, terminated June 11, 2024. No outcome amount is recorded in GPS records.
- Gumm v. Jacobs, No. 5:15-cv-00041, Middle District of Georgia, filed February 12, 2015, terminated May 7, 2019. No outcome amount is recorded in GPS records.
Sources
- GPS records and GDC mortality reports
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigative reporting on GDC mortality, SMU records, and Hancock State Prison violence and staffing
- 41NBC/WMGT — Hancock State Prison homicides and Vershaun Smith conviction
- 13WMAZ — Hancock State Prison stabbing reporting and coroner details
- Union-Recorder — Hancock State Prison death coverage
- FOX 5 / WGXA — Hancock State Prison homicide reporting
- CourtListener — Hall v. Shepard and Gumm v. Jacobs dockets
- U.S. Department of Justice — October 2024 prison conditions findings as cited in GPS/AJC records
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Warden | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2026-08-27 → present |
| WARDEN 2 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2025-01-01 → present |
| WARDEN 2 | 2024-01-01 → 2024-12-31 | |
| Warden | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | 2023-05-01 → 2024-12-31 |
| WARDEN 1 | 2023-01-01 → 2023-12-31 | |
| DEPUTY WARDEN | 2021-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| FOOD SVC SPV | 2017-01-01 → 2022-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL UNIT MANAGER | 2019-01-01 → 2020-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL CAPTAIN | 2018-01-01 → 2018-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT | 2017-01-01 → 2017-12-31 | |
| CSM CORRECTIONAL SERGEANT | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 |
| CORRECTIONS OFFICER (SP) | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Lawsuits as defendant
| Case # | Court | Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:23-cv-00205 | GAMD | 2023-06-08 | terminated |
| 5:15-cv-00041 | GAMD | 2015-02-12 | terminated |
| 1:11-cv-00512 | GAND | 2011-02-22 | terminated |
Deaths attributed during tenure
13 people died at facilities under Williams, JOE's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-30 | ALBERT CHAPA | 57 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2026-04-07 | JACOREY DERRELLE PEARSON | 36 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2026-02-18 | JERROD JOHNSON | 27 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2026-02-06 | JAYLIN BELL | 32 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2026-01-25 | STEVEN MONROE WOOD | 54 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-09-09 | ANDRE RASHAD WEEMS | 36 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-07-24 | BRIAN SMITH | 30 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-06-17 | COREY JOSE JULY | 33 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-04-09 | JOHN T CHILDREE | 60 | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-01-30 | William Holeman | — | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2025-01-30 | Prince Porter | — | HANCOCK STATE PRISON | WARDEN 2 |
| 2024-10-22 | EMILIO CHRISTOPHER CANALES | 40 | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | Warden |
| 2024-06-10 | RICARDO CASTAVIO DAUGHTRY | 41 | SPECIAL MANAGEMENT UNIT | Warden |
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