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Williams, Khalilah J
Status: active
Profile written August 2, 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
Khalilah J. Williams entered the Georgia Department of Corrections as a behavioral health counselor in 2015 before moving into facility leadership. By 2017 she had been promoted to Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison, a role the GPS database shows her holding through at least April 2026. During her tenure as a facility-level leader, GPS records attribute 16 deaths to the prison where she served. No lawsuits name Williams individually, but a state payout of $16,000 was made in 2025 to settle a claim tied to an incident at Dodge State Prison that year.What happened on their watch
Williams served continuously as Deputy Warden of Dodge State Prison from 2017 onward, a period in which the facility recorded 16 deaths, per GPS data. The fatalities show a mix of medical crises, suicides, and homicides. A cluster of natural‑cause deaths occurred in the late summer and fall of 2020: Tadrick Osborne (40), Caesar Dupree (64), and Cantrell Edge (41) all died of COVID‑19, and Kenneth Lockett (57) and William Hughes (61) succumbed to cardiac and respiratory conditions, according to Dodge County coroner records. In 2021, Hoke Tarpley (57) died from diabetic ketoacidosis, while Stewart Mitchell (36) died under circumstances still marked as undetermined.Two deaths in 2022 were classified as homicides stemming from inmate‑on‑inmate violence. Hezekiah Cuyler (21) died of blunt force trauma to the head after a fight in August 2022; Douglas Forts (57) died from an acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a confrontation in June 2022, as documented by an Atlanta Journal‑Constitution investigation. The prison also saw multiple suicides: Charles Casey (41) and John Comer (33) were both found hanging in 2023, while Kenneth Brown (58) died by suicide in his cell in January 2024, each case confirmed by coroner reports that note hanging or self‑hanging as the manner. The death of Arnold McDonald (63) in December 2022 followed a fall that caused a subdural hematoma, and the deaths of Joseph Chatfield (62) and Sotero Urquiza‑Hernandez (51) in mid‑2025 remain under active investigation, with coroner records listing pending toxicology and undetermined causes. The most recent death attributed to Williams’s watch is that of Warren Peacock (70) in April 2026, with a known chronic‑disease history but an autopsy outcome still pending.
In addition to the fatalities, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services’ risk‑management ledger shows that the state paid a $16,000 settlement to Kimyania Smith in May 2025 for an incident at Dodge State Prison, according to an open‑records release.
Sources
- GPS records — personnel position history and death‑attribution totals
- Dodge County Coroner open‑records responses — cause and manner documentation for 14 decedents
- Atlanta Journal‑Constitution — investigation into Georgia prison homicides, specifically the deaths of Hezekiah Cuyler and Douglas Forts
- Georgia Department of Administrative Services — risk‑management settlement ledger showing 2025 payout for Dodge State Prison incident
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| DEPUTY WARDEN | DODGE STATE PRISON | 2017-01-01 → present |
| BEHAVIORAL HLTH COUNSELOR SPV | 2016-01-01 → 2016-12-31 | |
| BEH HEALTH/COUNSELOR (SP) | 2015-01-01 → 2015-12-31 |
Deaths attributed during tenure
16 people died at facilities under Williams, Khalilah J's leadership.
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