A year after two former Smith State Prison officials asked a higher court to halt a wrongful death lawsuit, the Georgia Court of Appeals said it won’t hear the case because of a procedural issue.
The ruling stems from the wrongful death suit filed by the family of the late Bobby C. Kicklighter who was murdered in his bed in an alleged botched murder-for-hire scheme stemming from Smith State Prison back in 2021. At the center of it: the facility’s former warden, Brian Adams, and a former correctional officer, Ireon Moore, – both of whom are being sued for their roles in a purported criminal enterprise operating from behind the walls of the prison.
Background
88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter was murdered in his home on January 30, 2021 in a botched murder-for-hire scheme intended for Kicklighter’s neighbor, a corrections officer at Smith State Prison.
The GBI investigation into Kicklighter’s death led to the arrest of four individuals – Nathan Weekes, Christopher Sumlin, Keisha Jones, and Aerial Murphy – and eventually uncovered a multimillion dollar criminal enterprise operating from behind the walls of Smith SP in Glennville. At the center of the enterprise was a steady influx of contraband, including cell phones, designer clothing, jewelry, drugs, and other items – most often brought into the prison by complicit staff. Over the course of two years that followed the murder, additional murder victims were revealed, including Jesup father and commissary delivery truck driver Jerry Lee Davis, and another former corrections officer, Jessica Jean Gerling. Court records name other GDC staff who were targeted by the criminal enterprise and outline other staff who were arrested on related charges.
Ireon Moore, a GDC employee since March of 2020, was arrested in April 2021 for entering Smith State Prison with $29,000 in cash. While her vehicle was being searched by GDC investigators, her cell phone received a call from an inmate using a contraband phone inside Smith SP. Criminal indictments and court records allege that Moore was romantically involved with at least one inmate at the time of her arrest. She was terminated by GDC following her arrest.
The unraveling of the conspiracy culminated with the arrest of Warden Brian Adams and an excavation of the pond at his residence on GDC-property, which revealed buried contraband.
Weekes, Sumlin, Jones, and Murphy were all charged in Kicklighter’s death, among other things.
Adams was charged with False Statements and Writings, Violation of Oath by a Public Officer, Bribery, and Criminal Attempt – RICO Act.
You can read more about the alleged criminal enterprise in TGV’s complete coverage here.
Wrongful Death Suit Against Adams, Moore
The lawsuit filed in Tattnall County State Court seeks damages from former Warden Brian Adams and former Smith SP Corrections Officer Ireon Moore.
Specifically, the lawsuit contends that the contraband items, including cell phones, narcotics, weapons, designer brand clothing, jewelry, and tobacco should have been noticed by Warden Brian Adams. It also alleges that Ireon Moore was paid to participate in the conspiracy and the financial arrangements were carried out through text message.
“These illegal acts of communicating a plot against a correctional officer for standing up to the blatant criminal conspiracies taking place at Smith State Prison were facilitated by defendants [Adams and Moore], who allowed, tolerated, and assisted in the illegal use of mobile phones to engage in the criminal conspiracy to kill a non-complicit and not corrupt correctional officer.”
Citing previous knowledge of Weekes’ possessing a cell phone at Smith SP, the suit asserts that Adams and Moore participated in the actions, it was foreseeable that Natahn Weekes would “coordinate violent criminal activities from the poorly and negligently supervised confines of Smith State Prison, including but not limited to assault, battery, home invasion, and murder.”
“Had Defendants enforced federal and state law, and GDC’s operating procedures, this conspiracy would not have been carried out and the danger posed to Bobby Kicklighter would have been prevented,” the suit reads.
Both Moore and Adams offered a host of defenses over a period of two years, including that qualified immunity protected them from the personal liability of acting in their professional capacities.
Ultimately, Judge Ronald Hallman, a state court judge in Evans County who was appointed to oversee the case in Tattnall County, said the arguments made by the defendants were “unpersuasive” and that “genuine disputes of material facts exist on multiple issues.” He concluded that a jury should decide.
Defendants Seek Intervention by Georgia Court of Appeals
Attorneys for Adams and Moore said they would appeal Hallman’s order, relying on Georgia’s recently approved tort reform legislation, which they argued allowed them to appeal directly to the Court of Appeals on matters of granting or denying immunity. (Prior to the change in the legislation, parties essentially had to obtain a document from the trial court within ten days of an order before they could apply to the Court of Appeals) They filed their appeal on July 11, 2025, ten days after the new law took effect, and 29 days after Judge Hallman signed the Order.
In response, attorneys for the Kicklighter family filed a Motion to Dismiss the Appeals because the legislation was approved by the legislature and signed by Kemp, but did not take effect until after the Order was signed by the judge on June 12.
For the last twelve months, the case has awaited decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
June Court of Appeals Ruling
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals agreed with the Kicklighter family and granted both Motions to Dismiss the Appeals, citing a lack of jurisdiction.
The Court concluded that although procedural statutes can sometimes apply retroactively, Georgia Supreme Court precedent requires courts to apply the appellate procedure that was in effect when the judgment being appealed was entered. Because the June 12, 2025 order was entered before the new direct-appeal statute became effective, the defendants were obligated to use the interlocutory appeal process.
This decision does not address whether Adams and Moore are entitled to qualified immunity or whether they bear any liability in the wrongful death lawsuit as the ruling is procedural. Notably, however, is the fact that the parties cannot obtain Court of Appeals review at this stage of the case because the ten day window for requesting a Certificate of Immediate Review has passed.
As a result, the wrongful death lawsuit against both Adams and Moore returns to Tattnall County for further action.
The timing is less than desirable for Adams as the Court of Appeals ruling was handed down just two weeks after Brian Adams was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges connected to his employment at Smith State Prison. Ireon Moore’s criminal case is also still pending.
The ruling is the latest in a series of judgments against the two as well of the Georgia Department of Corrections, generally. Last year, Judge Hallman sanctioned the Georgia Department of Corrections for the agency’s failure to comply with the discovery process.
