Augusta, GA
Through pain, acid victim still smiling as she recovers in Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A Savannah woman faces a long road to recovery after a stranger attacked her with acid that ate through her clothes and covered 50% of her body with burns.
Ashley Wasielewski is trying to recover after receiving a first round of emergency surgery at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta.
The attack happened last Wednesday at Savannah’s iconic Forsyth Park when a man stepped out of the shadows and poured acid all over Wasielewski.
The recovery has been extremely difficult, according to her friend Kristen Oddi, of Marietta.
Most of the burns have been diagnosed as third-degree, covering over 50% of her body, Oddi wrote on a GoFundMe page.
She said it’s unlikely one burned area of Wasielewski’s scalp will ever grow hair again.
She added that the most crucial next step is to see if Ashley’s body will accept the cadaver skin from a recent surgery.
If that happens, skin graft surgeries will proceed, Oddi said.
Plastic surgery is ahead for her, but there’s no timetable yet.
Beyond that, Wasielewski faces rehabilitation, occupational therapy, wound management, long-term support and follow-up.
For now, she’s stable, according to Oddi.
And despite the hardship she’s been through and that lies ahead, she’s smiling in a photo from her hospital bed, with little other than her eyes and mouth visible through openings in gauze that covers her face.
“She will come back so much stronger,” Oddi said. “That, I don’t have a single doubt about.”
The investigation continues
Police are looking for the suspect and have spoken with two witnesses.
They’re hoping to speak with a third person whose photo they posted and to find the driver of a vehicle that was spotted nearby.
Meanwhile, the FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for tips.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Olu Brown visited Augusta on Friday evening, stopping near the Sand Hills Community Center as early voting continues.
Brown is one of six candidates in the Democratic primary.
Campaign priorities
Brown said his vision as governor would focus on three main areas.
“One, it’s affordability around health care and making sure we expand Medicaid and expand Peach Care and make sure we continue to make our rural health care systems healthy and vital,” Brown said. “Number two, we’ve got to address education in all of Georgia, making sure every kid in Georgia gets an excellent education, and we’re paying our teachers more. And number 3, we’re protecting the rights of all women. Folks in the Gold Dome shouldn’t be making decisions about their bodies or the choices that they make.”
Brown is running against Amanda Duffy, Derrick Jackson, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mike Thurmond.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta Prep student was arrested on a charge of terroristic threats over a picture of a LEGO gun he posted on social media.
It happened Wednesday, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Eric Hedinger, the principal of Augusta Preparatory Day School, told deputies a student had uploaded a picture to Snapchat of a “pistol” with the caption “shooting up the school so I don`t have to take the stats exam tomorrow. Don`t come yall!”
The principal said he spoke to the student and his father about the photo.
The principal also provided deputies with the student’s address in Grovetown.
A deputy went there and was told by the student that the “pistol” was a LEGO set that he had built.
He also said the comment he made was supposed to be a joke because he was not looking forward to taking his Advanced Placement statistics test this week.
The student showed the deputy the box that the LEGO set came in, and how the set was already disassembled.
The deputy also looked in the boy’s room to make sure he was not in possession of any weapons.
The mother advised that there was one firearm in the residence but it was locked up.
The deputy contacted Judge Leslie Morgan and she issued a warrant for terroristic threats.
The student, age 18, was taken into custody and transported to the Columbia County Detention Center.
News 12 is not reporting his name or publishing his photo since the LEGO gun could not have actually harmed anyone.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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