Cortez Berry, the 18-year-old Georgia prisoner who became the center of a social media storm after gang members posted several post-beating photos of him, has been transferred.
Gwendolyn Hogan, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, confirmed Thursday that Berry has been transferred from the Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, where his beating occurred, to Smith State Prison in Glennville while the investigation into the incident continues.
After the beating family members had sought protection for Berry, but are now disappointed in the new location.
In a 2014 report issued by the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Smith State Prison is one of the three most dangerous prisons in the state, along with Baldwin State Prison and Hays State Prison.
In the report, seven of the 33 people murdered in Georgia prisons since 2010 were at Smith, a 1,615-bed, close security prison.
“Why would they transfer him there to a maximum security prison?” said Berry’s aunt Shavondria Wright. “I don’t think it is safer. What do people serving life care for hurting him?”
Wright also said that she was not notified of the transfer.
Berry made headlines earlier this week when photos of him surfaced out of Burruss. One photo shows him having been badly beaten with a swollen left eye. Berry is kneeling is in front of two other inmates, one of whom is holding makeshift leash around his neck.
At least two of the photos were uploaded to various social media sites.
Wright said Berry was beaten for refusing to join a gang. Hogan said the DOC is still investigating the incident.
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