GARDEN CITY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta father is looking for answers after he said his own son was killed behind bars.
Ryan Archer, 26, of Griffin, was set to be released from the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) in early 2024, but an altercation with another inmate would prevent him from ever walking out a free man and being a father to his little girl.
Ryan's father, Michael Archer, said he last spoke to his son on Dec.11.
"He was having a little trouble but he did sound good when he called," Michael explained.
He knew Ryan wasn't telling him everything he was going through behind bars. He believed Ryan didn't want his family worrying about him.
Michael said he also thinks Ryan didn't discuss anything happening on the inside for fear of it getting back to someone.
"They don't really talk about it because of retaliation," he explained.
However, while Ryan sounded good on the phone, Michael said his fatherly instincts knew things weren't great. He said, that in his most recent mug shot taken by the GDC, you could see bruising on his son's face.
The details surrounding Ryan's death are still unknown almost a week after his death, but in an email to 11Alive, GDC confirmed the following:
We can confirm the death of Coastal SP inmate Ryan Archer (GDC#1002731852) on Wednesday, December 13th as a result of an altercation with another inmate. Archer was sentenced to 10 years, serve 2 for possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine out of Spalding County, with a maximum release date of June 2024.
Michael said it just doesn't make sense.
"His family will never get to see him again, and he won't be able to see or raise his daughter," Michael said. "Ryan should have been safe and protected while in the GDC custody."
Michael said after he spoke to his son on Dec. 11, the next call came from GDC telling him his son was dead.
"The next thing I know, he’s moved off to Coastal from Wrightsville and he made it less than 24 hours down there," he explained.
Michael said he's tried to find out when his son was attacked, why he was moved to Coastal and if his son was already injured when he was transported to Garden City.
"The main thing is, no one has told us anything," he said.
Susan Burns, founder of advocate group, They Have No Voice, explained this is something that happens to family members across the state who have a loved one incarcerated inside GDC.
Burns founded the organization almost 4.5 years ago after seeing what her own son endured behind bars.
"We are strictly corrections advocacy in the in the Georgia prisons," Burns explained. "I've been tracking... the causes of death and the manner of deaths for inmates since 2017."
Burns claimed so far in 2023, GDC has had more than 30 homicides in prisons across the state.
"We're four times the level of homicides they had in 2018," she said.
Both Ryan's father and Burns point to a common dominator among all GDC facilities: understaffing.
"Staffing, of course, was going downhill when I started They Have No Voice, but then in 2020, it went off a cliff," Burns said.
She also claimed GDC has not been able to catch up ever since.
"An understaffed prison is a very dangerous place," Burns said.
Michael said, from what he heard happening on the inside, "You know the prisoners are more or less just running the show."
"It simply breaks your heart. These are people. These are families. And many of these families have never experienced anything like incarceration," Burns added.
She said things have become so bad across the state that their organization actually has a document already prepared to help families like Ryan's father.
"We've prepared a document in The Have No Voice that, I mean, as sad as this is, a document that is called 'What to do when your child is killed in GDC," Burns explained.
On Tuesday evening, 11Alive reached out to the GDC if a cause of death and manner of death had been ruled in Ryan's death. It sent the following statement:
Archer’s body was turned over to the county coroner and will be transported to the GBI crime lab to determine the official cause of death. The death is being investigated by the GDC’s Office of Professional Standards, as standard procedure; therefore, additional details are not available, as the investigation is ongoing.
According to GDC, there have been 15 deaths, including Archer's death at Coastal State Prison since Jan. 1. Of those, GDC categorized the deaths as the following:
- Homicide: 1 (Oct. 20)
- Natural causes: 10
- Suicide: 1
- Undetermined: 2
You can report criminal activity happening inside prisons across the state by clicking here.