Prison official: Georgia inmate had ‘personal relationship’ with worker he shot

GLENNVILLE, Georgia – An inmate who shot and killed a kitchen worker at a Georgia prison and then shot himself had a personal relationship with the woman, a prison official said Monday.

Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lori Benoit said in an emailed statement that the shooting early Sunday at Smith State Prison was an isolated incident and the investigation was ongoing. The statement did not mention how inmate Jaydrekus Hart obtained the firearm.

The agency had previously said Hart shot the worker in the prison kitchen at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning and then killed himself. Hart apparently left a suicide note, Benoit said.

Smith State Prison, which has a capacity of 1,500 inmates, is a maximum security prison that houses offenders who are considered violent or pose an escape risk.

Hart had been in prison since 2015 after being convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault in Carroll County, online jail records show. His earliest possible release date would have been 2043.

The murdered kitchen worker, 24-year-old Aureon Shavea Grace of Statesboro, had worked at the prison since January, according to the Department of Corrections. She was employed by Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that supplies food to prisons in Georgia, among other places.