By Jake Shore, The Current
The family of Saudi Lee, a local man killed by a Savannah Police Department officer in June 2022, released to the public Wednesday the body camera footage of his death, the latest unusual turn in ongoing criminal and civil cases examining the incident.
A grand jury indicted Ernest Ferguson in September on multiple charges, including felony murder and lying to investigators about what happened during the 11-second encounter, when the former police officer shot Lee in the back four times in Carver Village.
The former officer has pleaded not guilty. His attorney and lawyers representing the city in a separate civil case alleging misconduct by the police force and the city have said that Lee pointed a gun at Ferguson, suggesting that the shooting on June 24, 2022, was self defense.
Ferguson’s body camera recording, which The Current reviewed and reported on two months ago, raises questions about that characterization.
The decision by Lee’s family to release the video is highly unusual, as is the indictment of Ferguson. Few police officers in America are ever arrested or prosecuted for killing civilians in the line of duty. Moreover, after the killings occur, the public rarely sees footage of what happened, according to a ProPublica review of 101 police shootings from a single month in 2022.
“Often, charges don’t happen. The release of footage doesn’t happen in every case, and together, that’s very rare,” according to South Carolina-based attorney Bakari Sellers, who has represented families in 20 police shooting cases across 15 states. Among his clients, only two cases have active criminal charges, he said.
The charges against Ferguson were brought under Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones, a Democrat. Progressive-minded district attorneys have been more willing to consider criminal charges against police officers who commit misconduct on the job, especially since the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by an officer.
Sellers said that the release of the footage in advance of the criminal case helps both the officer and the victim’s family.
“Even if it was a 50/50 ball in the climate we’re in, the officer will get the benefit of the doubt,” Sellers said. “If he committed an act that’s beyond the pale … he will not only be convicted in a court of public opinion, but he’ll be convicted in the court of law.”
Among those gathered at the afternoon press conference in Johnson Square were Saudi’s father, Jerome Blige; his mother, Marshell Bernice Lee; and his sister, Dorothy Lee.
“Watching my brother get murdered is the hardest thing I’ve ever seen,” Dorothy Lee said. “But people have the right to know the truth. Saudi did nothing wrong. There was no reason for him to be shot.”
Keith Barber, an attorney representing Ferguson in his criminal case, said he looks forward to “exonerating” Ferguson.
“Ferguson has committed no crime in relation to his interaction with Saudi Lee. He only acted in self defense in this situation. Mr. Lee undoubtedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him and his patrol partner,” Barber wrote in an emailed statement to The Current.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.
