At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones announced the indictment of Ernest Ferguson, the former Savannah Police Department (SPD) officer who shot and killed Saudi Lee in the Carver Village neighborhood on June 24, 2022.
“While all cases that are assigned to our office are important and worthy of significance to us, there are certain cases that take place in our community that garner more attention than others and that generate more requests from the public,” said Jones, who was flanked by Chatham County DA Deputy Chief of Superior Court Brian DeBlasiis and Chatham County Lead Assistant District Attorney Lyle Burnham. “And in those instances, we believe it is our duty to update the public on the status of the case to the extent we are allowed to do so by law.”
On Sept. 25, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Ferguson with three counts of felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault for “drawing and brandishing an electronic control device and handgun” to Lee, false imprisonment for unlawfully detaining Lee without legal authority, and two counts of making a false statement by stating in his narrative in the SPD incident report and to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) special agent, that prior to turning and running away from Ferguson, Lee pointed his handgun or firearm at Ferguson.
The indictment represents a renewed focus from Jones’ office into allegedly illegal misconduct by local law enforcement. In late May 2024, Jones announced the indictment of two former SPD officers, Ashley Wood and Darryl Repress, on multiple counts of perjury and violating their oaths of public office. In late August 2024, Jones announced the dismissal of several serious violent felony cases investigated by Repress and Wood.
The press conference comes a little more than one month before Jones faces a reelection contest against Andre Pretorius, a Republican and a former deputy chief assistant for the Chatham County State Court .
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Delays in indictment, other cases against Ferguson ongoing
From January 2022 to June 2022, there were six officer-involved shootings in Chatham County, five of which were within the City of Savannah's jurisdiction. The Savannah Morning News previously reported that Jones closed four officer-involved shooting investigations in late March 2023 without any public announcements of the DA's final decisions, despite previous assurances of doing so .
In previous interviews with the Savannah Morning News, Jones has said that officer-involved shooting investigations typically take between 90 to 120 days, but the Ferguson case sat on Jones' desk for more than 750 days . The completed case file for the Ferguson case was delivered to the Chatham DA's Office on Aug. 29, 2022, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) spokesperson Lindsay Smith has said in an email.
On June 21, 2024, a little more than two years after the fatal shooting, attorneys for the family of Saudi Lee filed a federal lawsuit against Ferguson, an unnamed police officer, and the City of Savannah, as previously reported by SMN. The civil suit went into intricate detail about Ferguson’s killing of Lee, calling it “senseless and unjustified.”
The 29-page civil suit detailed nine use-of-force incidents he was involved in against inmates while employed as a corrections officer at Coastal State Prison from February 2020 until he resigned in March 2021. The attorneys also detailed multiple incidents where Ferguson was involved allegedly while working as an SPD officer from March 2021 until he was fired in October 2022 for conduct related to a drunk driving arrest .
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City of Savannah attorney Bates Lovett and attorneys for Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn on behalf of the City of Savannah have since filed a motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing that the “Estate of Saudi Lee is not a proper party, any claims brought by the alleged estate should be dismissed,” and the “complaint fails to allege any viable claims for relief against the City of Savannah and it should be dismissed from this case entirely," according to a motion to dismiss filed on Sept. 13. In the motion to dismiss, the attorneys cite body-camera footage of the fatal shooting, which Jones said she does not intend on releasing.
"We consider the body-cam footage to be a critical piece of evidence in this case," said Jones. "As I just said, we do not intend, and are bound by law, we believe, from releasing that body-cam footage to the public at this time. That is not to say that footage might not be obtained from other government offices. You won't be able to get it from our office as long as this criminal investigation and case is pending."
After being fired from SPD, Ferguson was charged on Dec. 27, 2022, with shoplifting expensive watches and possessing methamphetamine in separate incidents, the lawsuit adds. On Aug. 10, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Freesemann reduced Ferguson’s bond to $1,000 bond, according to court records.
On June 26, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Ferguson for the shoplifting incident. According to the indictment, Ferguson entered a Belk’s Store in Chatham County on Dec. 27, 2022, requested to view the most expensive watch, and after being shown a Rolex, grabbed the watch and ran away from the store. An arraignment in that case is scheduled for Oct. 9.
No hearings are scheduled in the latest case.
“Our office has a dual responsibility to [build] trust and cultivate working relationships with our law enforcement partners, which happens about 99% of the time,” said Jones. “But we also have an equal duty to ensure that those who violate the law and betray the public trust while promising to serve and protect are treated like everyone else under the law, and that they are not beyond the reach of accountability.”
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@Gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County District Attorney announces indictment of a former Savannah Police officer
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