A newly released timeline from The Oklahoman is shining a harsh spotlight on a string of stabbings and homicides at the prison near Holdenville, a facility critics say has long been plagued by safety and staffing failures. The detailed chronology leans on court records, autopsy reports and other investigative material to connect a series of deadly events that started in early 2022 and have rippled through Oklahoma’s justice system.
According to The Oklahoman, the timeline pulls together autopsy findings, criminal filings, investigative records, video evidence and civil court documents to reconstruct each fatal incident. The package names the inmates and staff involved and charts how the violence unfolded inside the facility over the past several years.
Officer killed while supervising recreation
One of the most shocking episodes came on July 31, 2022, when corrections officer Alan Jay Hershberger was fatally stabbed while overseeing an outdoor recreation period. Coverage by The Associated Press details affidavit material that describes an improvised knife used in the attack and the arrest of a validated gang-affiliated prisoner on a first-degree murder complaint.
Federal sentencing in a separate inmate killing
Another deadly assault tied to the same prison ended with a lengthy federal sentence. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported in a Department of Justice release that inmate Kenneth Leon Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court to murder in Indian Country for a killing on May 31, 2022. Thomas, who was already serving an eight-year state sentence when the attack occurred, received a 270 month federal prison sentence.
State takeover and staffing concerns
Amid mounting scrutiny, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections took over day to day operations of the Holdenville prison from private operator CoreCivic on Oct. 1, 2023, and renamed the facility the Allen Gamble Correctional Center, a change the agency announced in a press release. Critics and reporters have linked the violent streak to chronic understaffing and contraband issues, and The Associated Press documented multiple inmate homicides and significant staffing shortfalls at the site in 2022.
Legal fallout and family calls for answers
The timeline from The Oklahoman notes that a federal lawsuit has been filed against CoreCivic over the 2022 killing of Officer Hershberger. Families of those who died are pushing for more transparency about how prisoners were housed and classified inside the prison. Advocates are demanding clearer answers about how weapons were fashioned inside housing units and why some prisoners with known histories of violence remained in the general population.
What to watch next
Lawmakers, oversight bodies and families are now watching to see whether state control, ongoing lawsuits and any potential federal inquiries will translate into real operational changes at Allen Gamble. As Oklahoma Watch has reported, Oklahoma has been gradually moving away from private prisons, a policy shift that this Holdenville timeline has pushed back into the middle of the political debate.
For the moment, the newly assembled record underscores a prison system still wrestling with violence, staffing gaps and oversight concerns. We will update this report as new court filings, official statements or investigative records come to light.
