Yancey, Jody LEE

Tenure Summary

Jody Lee Yancey has held a series of increasingly senior custody roles across two Georgia Department of Corrections facilities. Yancey’s career began in 2007 as an Assistant Chief of Security at McRae Women’s Facility, followed by a long gap before returning in 2022 as Assistant Warden at Coffee Correctional Facility. Since then, Yancey has moved between Coffee and McRae in deputy and warden-level posts, and currently serves as Warden at McRae Women’s Facility. During facility-leadership tenures where Yancey held the rank of assistant warden, deputy warden, or warden, GPS records attribute a total of 15 deaths: 10 at Coffee Correctional Facility and 5 at McRae Women’s Facility. One lawsuit is listed against Yancey — a multidistrict product-liability proceeding that appears unrelated to corrections work. The deaths include at least one homicide, multiple incidents with cause category 6 (classified by GPS as “other/unknown”), and one case that triggered a habeas corpus filing.

What happened on their watch

Coffee Correctional Facility, Assistant Warden (2022) — Seven of the 10 deaths attributed to Coffee occurred during this yearlong tenure. Among them, Hendricks Riley Gunn, 42, died on January 2 from blunt force injuries to the head and neck, classified by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation as a homicide. The other six decedents — Maurice Bernard White (48), Robbie Lee Collins (45), Enrique Alejandro Lopez (37), Aydin M. Rashidov (27), Charles J. Edwards (75), and Karl Eugene Pundt (78) — all fall under GPS cause category 6. No lawsuits naming Yancey arose directly from this period, though Coffee Correctional Facility was the subject of later intel reports documenting gang activity and a former officer’s indictment for drug trafficking.

McRae Women’s Facility, Deputy Warden (2023) — GPS records list no deaths during this assignment.

Coffee Correctional Facility, Deputy Warden (2024) — Three additional deaths occurred. Jeffery B. Russell (60) died January 8, Robert Adams (52) on February 8, and William Eric Green (61) on May 24. All three are coded cause category 6. This brought the total deaths at Coffee during Yancey’s cumulative deputy-level and assistant-level tenures there to 10, matching the facility total. By the end of this stint, the facility had already seen multiple deaths, and a series of stabbings on December 13, 2025 (after Yancey’s departure) would later lead to the indictment of 16 alleged Bloods gang members.

McRae Women’s Facility, Warden (2025–present) — Five deaths have been recorded since Yancey assumed the top facility leadership role on January 1, 2025. Jadia Corine Rozier, 23, died July 20, 2025, with a cause category 3 (the only death in this group not coded 6); GPS research notes a related habeas corpus case was filed. In 2026, four deaths followed: Beverly Suzanne Sipple, 59, on March 16; Kristal Lyn Layne, 55, on May 10; Shannon Michelle Rush, 43, on May 16; and Chasity King, 26, on May 18. All but Rozier fall into cause category 6.

Litigation

• In Re Paragard Iud Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:20-md-02974 (N.D. Ga., filed Dec. 16, 2020) — a multidistrict product-liability proceeding concerning the Paragard IUD. The case remains pending. GPS records list Yancey as a defendant, but the nature of the litigation appears unrelated to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Sources

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution — investigation of Georgia prison homicides; reporting on gang-related violence and officer indictment at Coffee Correctional Facility
• FOX 5 Atlanta — report on 16 inmates indicted for Coffee Correctional Facility stabbings
• Yahoo.com — article on the same mass stabbing indictment
• CourtListener — docket entry for In Re Paragard Iud Products Liability Litigation
• GPS records — death data, career positions, and intelligence reports

Synthesized by GPS Intelligence System on Jul 5, 2026 from positions, attributed deaths, lawsuits, intel reports, and news mentions in the public corpus. The supporting data tables follow below.