The Georgia Department of Corrections continues to struggle with drones being used to deliver contraband, such as drugs, cellphones and potentially even the firearm used by an inmate of Smith State Prison to kill a food service worker in June.
Department Director Tyrone Oliver told a state Senate panel Wednesday information obtained during the ongoing investigation into the June 16 murder-suicide indicates someone flew a drone to deliver the gun used by Jaydrekus Hart to kill 24-year-old Aramark employee Aureon Grace while she was working in the prison kitchen.
Georgia’s state prison officials spent several hours Wednesday testifying before the Georgia Senate’s Department of Corrections Facilities Study Committee, which is tasked with making recommendations on how to deal with troubles arising from overcrowded and outdated detention facilities.
According to the corrections department, Hart and Grace had a personal relationship and that Hart left a suicide note. Hart had been serving a 20-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery committed in 2013 in Carroll County.
In Georgia’s state prisons, drones are increasingly used to smuggle contraband, resulting in more violence against inmates, correctional officers and other staff.