VALDOSTA — A prison inmate has been indicted for killing someone at Valdosta State Prison in 2022, court records show.
Robbie Miller, 30, was indicted for felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, according to a January 2023 indictment list from the Lowndes County Superior Court.
The indictment said that, on Sept. 16, 2022, he killed Dexter Burnett with a homemade knife, or “shank.”
District Attorney Brad Shealey said Miller was an inmate at Valdosta State Prison at the time. Miller had a list of previous convictions, including aggravated assault, terroristic threats and escape, mostly in Dodge and Decatur counties, according to prison records.
Valdosta State Prison has seen a large number of deaths in recent years. The Valdosta Daily Times is aware of the following, but we don’t know how complete this list is:
— Kristopher Clayton Sweat, 32, died Aug. 13, but at the time no details surrounding his death were released by prison authorities.
— Lance Lumpkin died June 30 while Quoesent Bostwick died the next day. Lumpkin’s and Bostwick’s deaths are being investigated as homicides.
— Jairus Dantzler, 29, died Feb. 14, 2023. No cause of death was made available at the time. He had been serving a life sentence for rape, according to Georgia Department of Corrections files. The Times found out about the inmate’s death and reported on it after being contacted by one of Dantzler’s family members.
— Inmate Darius Lowe was found unresponsive in his cell by security staff at 1:17 a.m., April 13, 2022, records show. He was declared dead by the coroner’s office at 2:53 a.m. An incident report characterized the death as a suicide.
— Derick Joshua Ferrell died April 6, 2022, at Valdosta State Prison, according to documents provided by the Georgia Department of Corrections after The Valdosta Daily Times made an open records request in July 2022. The nature of the medical situation was redacted in the documents. Corrections department records characterized his death as a “disruptive event.”
— Hakeem Williams was “fatally assaulted” by his cellmate at 12:10 p.m., Feb. 28, 2022, corrections documents show. At 12:45 a.m., he was put in an ambulance heading to South Georgia Medical Center for treatment; he was not alert or conscious when the ambulance left the prison, records show. A search of the area where the assault occurred took place but whatever was recovered was blacked out in the report.
— The death of George Buffkin on Feb. 13, 2022, appears only in a listing of deaths at Valdosta State Prison provided by the corrections department without any supporting documents. The listing gives the cause of death as “natural.”
— Inmate Wiley Tucker was found unresponsive in his cell at 5 a.m., Feb. 1, 2022, reports show. EMTs arrived but were unable to revive him and he was declared dead at 5:20 a.m. His body was sent to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy; an incident report filed three days after the incident calls the death a suicide, according to prison documents.
— Inmate Dewey Slayton was found unresponsive on a cell floor at 3 a.m., Jan. 5, 2022, prison documents show. Staff administered first aid until EMTs arrived but Slayton was pronounced dead at the scene. An incident report labeled his death a suicide.
— Investigators believe inmate Bobby Carpenter died from injuries following a fight with another inmate Sept. 9, 2020, according to a Georgia Department of Corrections statement. The cause of death appeared to be stab wounds, Lowndes County Coroner Austin Fiveash said at the time.
— Orvonta Tillman is believed to have died June 15, 2020, as a result of injuries sustained during an altercation with another inmate. At the time, Fiveash said Tillman died of stab wounds.
— Prince Blige, 55, died Feb. 11, 2020; he was believed to have been killed in an inmate fight, according to the corrections department.
— On Sept. 5, 2019, Brodrick Seals, 28, died after being found unresponsive in his cell; authorities claimed his death was a suicide.
— Elander Johnson died July 25, 2019, as a result of injuries apparently sustained during an altercation involving another inmate in a case being investigated as a homicide, according to the corrections department.
— On May 26, 2019, guards found Astair Holmes Jr. unresponsive in his cell; prison officials claimed his death as a possible suicide.
— Inmate Simon Warren died April 14, 2019, after a suicide attempt, according to state prison officials.
— Kealy Williams, 37, died March 30, 2019, from injuries caused by a fight with another inmate, according to a corrections department statement.
— In August 2018, Joshua Roman died of injuries sustained in a fight, according to the corrections department.
— In July 2018, Herman Galeno, 31, was found unresponsive in his cell.
— In June 2018, David Cordova was found unresponsive in his cell.
— In April 2018, Joseph Pagen’s death following a fight was investigated as a homicide, according to the corrections department.
— In March 2018, Benjamin Snyder died following an inmate fight; the corrections department investigated his death as a homicide.
— On Dec. 4, 2017, inmate Jenna Mitchell died of apparent suicide. A lawsuit was filed against the state prison system claiming her death was due to deliberate “indifference” to her medical and mental health needs, according to court documents. The corrections department settled with her family in late 2021 for $2.2 million.