MACON, Ga. — According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, there were 239 deaths in the state's prison in 2022.
In the report, 131 of those were natural causes, 51 were undetermined, 34 were suicides, 20 were homicides, and three were accidental.
Susan Burns is the founder of They Have No Voice. Burns started the 501(c) organization after how her son was treated in Georgia's state prison. Since his release, she has been collecting data and helping other families with loved ones in the prison system.
One woman she has helped was Sandra Goodman. Her son is currently in Central State Prison on a drug charge. She says she fears for his safety every day and has heard about the corruption her son has seen in jail.
Since being sent to Central, Goodman has gotten a Cash App request, which turned out to not be her son. It was another inmate posing as her son.
"I thought it was my son on someone's cell phone, and I sent it. And he said unless you hear from me, do not send anyone any money," Goodman said.
Goodman says no one in the prison is supposed to have a cell phone but is brought in illegally. She said she sends him money through the prison's commissary online system.
Most recently, Hollis Bryant was killed on Sunday in Central State Prison. Burns says she has been looking to find relatives of Bryant to help them but has been unsuccessful in locating them. She says many Georgia prisons are unsafe and at Macon State Prison, it's because of staffing.
"At Macon, a facility 1750 troublesome men. Four staff people were there. Four corrections officers for 1,750 people. There should probably be, if every control booth were manned as it is supposed to be 24/7, there probably should've been 35 people there," Burns said.
Then, on Monday, another inmate Maquis Johnson was stabbed to death at Central State Prison, according to Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones.
They Have No Voice provides families with a sheet of frequently asked questions to help their loved ones like knowing who the warden is, staying out of trouble and having a power of attorney. Burns says she always tells families what they can do to keep their relatives alive.
"Stay in your lane, don't break up a fight, stay out of it, don't get involved. If you're involved, you may very well die," Burns said.
Goodman hopes there will be change for her son and the other inmates.
"I'm not saying they're not supposed to be punished but they are humans, they have souls, they have hearts just like we do out here," Goodman said.
Right now, the U.S. Justice Department is investigating Georgia's 34 state prisons. Ten are in the central Georgia area. Initial reports from 2020 show there were at least 26 inmate deaths in the state's prison. In 2022, the federal agency to the state's Department of Corrections to court saying they failed to turn over basic information and documents like the number of inmates who were killed.