Hallie Reed
Hallie Reed, 23, was raised on military bases and later in Fort Oglethorpe, and her mother, Samantha Reed, said she had been diagnosed with a serious mental illness as a teen. Reed died on May 5, 2024, at Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto, Georgia, eight days after Sherry Joyce died in the same mental health unit. Her mother said Reed had told her she feared for her safety, and reporting says Reed wrote to a corrections officer that she feared for her life and asked for protective custody. Arrest warrants say she was strangled, the Habersham County coroner sent the case to the GBI Crime Lab, and the Georgia Department of Corrections investigated, with the state's chief legal officer later confirming it was being treated as a homicide.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed; neglect alleged). Arrest warrants say she was strangled, and the state's chief legal officer confirmed the death is being investigated as a homicide, while the coroner has sent the case to the GBI Crime Lab with no official cause yet determined; Reed's family says she told staff in writing she feared for her life and asked for protective custody, and that her request was ignored.
Reported by: Habersham County sheriff's deputies, arrest warrants; Georgia Department of Corrections chief legal officer (the agency that held her); Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of Georgia prison death data (reporters); Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire (medical examiner or coroner); her family.
Sources (4)
- Investigation into deaths of 2 Lee Arrendale Inmates
- Lee Arrendale State Prison inmate charged with strangling to death 2 other inmates
- Rare killings of women come to light as Georgia prisons set homicide record - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Death behind bars: Here’s how Georgia prisoners are being killed - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution