The family of a Savannah man killed by a police officer in 2022 has filed a wrongful death suit against the city, saying a lack of due diligence and oversight in hiring a law enforcement officer with a disciplinary record led to the “unjustified” killing of Saudi Lee.
The suit cites the checkered professional history of former Savannah Police Department Officer Ernest Ferguson first uncovered by The Current in the wake of Lee’s death in June 2022. The killing was the fifth officer-involved shooting that year. (For more background on the Ferguson investigation, read here.)
The civil suit filed Friday comes as Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones is still deciding whether to bring criminal charges against Ferguson. The officer was fired approximately four months after Lee’s death after a drunk driving incident.
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