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…