Fired Savannah Police officer appeals to get job back

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A board is deciding whether to vote to give a former Savannah Police Department officer her job back.

Ashley Wood is appealing her firing over a 2021 murder case. She’s accused of making up information that led to the arrest of Marquis Parrish.

WTOC has been following this story since it started with the disappearance of Charles Vinson in 2021.

Four people were arrested in the case, but charges against Parrish were dropped in June 2023 when his attorneys say then-Officer Wood made up evidence and lied about seeing him on security video.

Parrish was in jail for two years before his release. He said his family was forced into homelessness and hiding while he was in jail. He’s now suing Wood and the City of Savannah for damages.

WTOC has new court filings showing Parrish and his wife are suing them over the money they lost and the grief they suffered during the two years Parrish was in jail.

Woods was fired just over two months ago.

The Savannah Civil Service Board heard her case for appeal over the last two days.

Wood’s attorney is now arguing that she did not intentionally lie to anyone but instead, she was overworked and made a mistake when writing her report on the shooting death.

“As Ms. Cooper indicated, we are human, and we make mistakes. I have probably made four this morning, it’s when we own up to it and correct it, if we don’t, that’s a problem.”

Friday was the closing argument of the two day appeal. During the hearing, a witness said he did not believe Wood Intentionally lied to him, but he must look at the evidence in front of him.

“The defense attorney Sammons, said that he was looking at a homicide investigation case and there were some inconsistencies with the statements that were made on BWC video compared to what was written in the report.”

WTOC has put in a request to be notified when a decision is made.

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