Family of man killed by Savannah police officer files wrongful death lawsuit – WABE

The family of a Savannah man killed by a police officer in 2022 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, claiming a lack of care and oversight in hiring a police officer with a disciplinary record led to Saudi Lee’s “unjustified” killing.

The lawsuit relates to the checkered career of former Savannah Police Department officer Ernest Ferguson, which was first uncovered by The Current after Lee’s death in June 2022. The killing was the fifth officer-involved shooting this year. (For more background on the Ferguson investigation, click here.)

The civil suit filed Friday came as Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones is still deciding whether to file charges against Ferguson, an officer fired about four months after Lee’s death following an alcohol-related incident.

On June 24, 2022, just months after joining the SPD, Ferguson shot and killed 31-year-old Lee just minutes after the officer confronted the 31-year-old man walking down Gwinnett Street. Ferguson aggressively ordered him to stop but had no sufficient reason to do so, according to witnesses.

According to the lawsuit, Ferguson was disciplined and investigated for use of force nine times while working as a prison guard at Coastal State Prison in 2020 and 2021. But those incidents never showed up in Savannah’s routine background check before hiring Ferguson.

Almost immediately after he joined the Savannah Police Department, residents on Savannah’s west side began filing complaints about Ferguson’s unjustified aggressive behavior.

Attorneys for the Lee family say the city’s failures make both them and the former officer liable for Lee’s death.

“The decision of the Savannah Police Department, represented by the City of Savannah, not to discipline, demote and/or fire Ferguson for the killing of Mr. Lee exemplifies and implements an official policy, practice or custom that involves tolerating violations of the constitutional rights of civilians and encourages its officers to use excessive force against members of the community,” the lawsuit states.

Cook Jones closed the other 2022 police-involved shooting cases without filing charges. Between January 2022 and June 2022, when Ferguson killed Lee, there were six police-involved shootings in Chatham County, five of them within the jurisdiction of the City of Savannah—an average of one police shooting per month. Five of those resulted in civilian fatalities. There were five police shootings by Savannah police in 2021, two in 2020, one in 2019, and three in 2018.

The city of Savannah has not commented on the lawsuit filed Friday afternoon. “The city of Savannah does not comment on ongoing or pending litigation,” Savannah spokesman Joshua Peacock said by email.

When The Current revealed Ferguson’s previous disciplinary actions as a POST-certified police officer in the state of Georgia, Savannah Police Department officials acknowledged that their background check of his employment history had revealed no cause for concern.

“An independent background investigator investigates the employment history of all applicants and submits the results to SPD,” the Savannah Police Department wrote in response. “The background report showed that this particular applicant was employed at Coastal State Prison, was eligible for rehire, and had complied with all policies and procedures. There were no documented issues or causes for concern with this officer at the time of his hire; therefore, no additional requirements were placed on this officer.”

This story was provided by WABE content partner The Current.