Woodard, Ylitha L

Tenure Summary

Ylitha L. Woodard's documented Georgia Department of Corrections career began in 2013 in financial operations and ran for more than a decade before she moved into facility leadership. Her early posts were at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — Financial Operations Generalist (2013), Financial Ops Generalist 2 (2016–2017) — followed by Financial Ops Generalist 3 (2018–2023), a Financial Ops Generalist 3 assignment recorded at Metro Reentry Facility on Nov. 22, 2023, and Accounting Technician 3 (January–Nov. 15, 2024). On Nov. 16, 2024, she entered leadership as Deputy Warden of Administration at Rutledge State Prison, and her records show her continuing there as a Deputy Warden through 2025 and into a 2026 posting dated Aug. 27, 2026.

Six deaths are attributed to Woodard's leadership tenure, all of them at Rutledge State Prison, per GPS personnel records. No lawsuit naming her as a defendant appears in the records provided for this profile.

What happened on their watch

Rutledge State Prison — Deputy Warden of Administration (Nov. 16, 2024–present), then Deputy Warden (2025; 2026 record)

Six deaths are recorded at Rutledge State Prison during Woodard's tenure as a facility deputy: Joe Payne, 73, on Dec. 29, 2024, when she held the title Deputy Warden of Administration; William Edward Houston, 75, on April 10, 2025; Alan Thomas Bryant, 46, on June 1, 2025; Brandon Keith Bolden, 37, on June 15, 2025; Jonathan Lloyd Myers, 38, on May 3, 2026; and Altereck Mance Dockery, 49, on June 14, 2026. All but Payne are recorded with the role "Deputy Warden" at the time of death. The ages range from 37 to 75, with four of the six decedents under 50. The cause categories recorded for these deaths are not uniform — four fall under one recorded category and two under others.

Two intel items dated Jan. 21, 2025 are tied to Rutledge while she was serving as Deputy Warden, and both trace to Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting:

• A lawsuit filed by the sister of Curtis Mincey alleged that he suffered from a mental illness and did not receive appropriate medical or psychological assistance prior to his death. This is an allegation made in a civil filing, not a finding. Mincey's death is referenced in that lawsuit record and does not appear within the six deaths attributed to Woodard's tenure in the personnel data.
• An AJC report on Operation Skyhawk states that Sergeant Erika Shonquandria Hall allegedly admitted to providing prisoners with cellphones, chargers, tobacco and food in exchange for money on at least six occasions at Rutledge. That is an allegation attributed to Hall, not to Woodard.

GPS's news-mention index contains no reports that name Woodard directly.

Sources

• Georgia Prisoners' Speak personnel records — positions, salary years and death attributions for Ylitha L. Woodard, including the six Rutledge State Prison deaths dated Dec. 29, 2024 through June 14, 2026.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "GA prison homicides: a list of those killed in Georgia's prison system" (Jan. 21, 2025) — allegation in the Curtis Mincey lawsuit regarding medical and psychological care at Rutledge State Prison.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Seven officers arrested in Operation Skyhawk, accused in contraband scheme run by Valdosta prisoner" (Jan. 21, 2025) — contraband allegations involving Sergeant Erika Shonquandria Hall at Rutledge State Prison.
• Court records for the lawsuit filed over Curtis Mincey's death (filed Jan. 21, 2025) — allegation of medical and psychological neglect.

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Sep 23, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.