Williams, Khalilah J

Tenure Summary

Khalilah J. Williams joined the Georgia Department of Corrections as a behavioral health counselor in 2015 and was promoted to Deputy Warden at Dodge State Prison in 2017, a post she has held continuously through at least 2025. GPS records attribute 15 deaths to Dodge State Prison during her tenure in that deputy leadership role. Two of those deaths were flagged by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation as violent homicides. No lawsuits naming Williams as a defendant appear in GPS records.

What Happened on Their Watch

Dodge State Prison — Deputy Warden, 2017–present

GPS records attribute all 15 deaths during Williams's accountability-tier tenure to Dodge State Prison. The deaths span 2020 through 2025 in the sample record. The majority fall under cause category 6 (cause unspecified in available records). Two deaths stand out for documented violent circumstances. On June 2, 2022, Douglas Anthony Forts, 57, died from acute traumatic amputation of a finger sustained during a fight, according to the AJC Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation. On September 14, 2022, Hezekiah Sha'Nard Cuyler, 21, died from blunt force trauma to the head, also per the AJC investigation — making him one of the youngest decedents in the record. Both deaths occurred within a four-month window in 2022 while Williams held the Deputy Warden role. Other named decedents during her tenure include Kenneth Lockett (57), William D. Hughes (61), Caesar Dupree (64), and Cantrell Lavar Edge (41), all recorded in fall 2020, and John August Comer (33) and Charles Dennis Casey (41) in 2023. The most recent deaths in the sample record are Sotero Uriquiza-Hernandez, 51, on May 20, 2025, and Joseph Chatfield, 62, on June 13, 2025, both also carrying cause category 6. GPS records show no intel reports, no DOJ findings, and no lawsuits tied to Williams or Dodge State Prison during this period beyond what is noted above.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Georgia Prison Homicides Investigation (deaths of Hezekiah Sha'Nard Cuyler and Douglas Anthony Forts at Dodge State Prison, 2022)
• GPS records — death attributions, position history, and salary data for Williams, Khalilah J (Dodge State Prison, 2017–2025)

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on May 22, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.