COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A former sheriff's deputy was found guilty of reckless homicide at trial Thursday for shooting a Black man who was bringing sandwiches to his grandmother's house.
The killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by Jason Meade in December 2020 had provoked outrage in Ohio.
Trial jurors said they couldn't agree on the more serious charge of murder, so the judge declared a mistrial on that count.
Meade, who is white, said his shooting of Goodson
— five times in the back and once in the side — was justified because he saw the 23-year-old holding a gun and turning toward him in the doorway of the house in Columbus. But no one else testified that they saw Goodson holding the gun he was licensed to carry, and no cameras recorded the shooting.
This was Meade's second murder trial, after the first ended in a mistrial two years ago. He is now the second white law enforcement officer to be convicted in the killing of a Black man in the state since the 2020 killing of a Black man, George Floyd, sparked national protests.
During the earlier proceeding, Meade testified that he pursued Goodson after the man waved a gun at him as they passed each other in their vehicles. According to his family and prosecutors, Goodson was holding a bag of Subway sandwiches in one hand and his keys in the other, and was listening to music through earbuds when he was killed.
Prosecutors also said that evidence suggests the gun wasn't in his hands, but in a flimsy holder under his belt, and that it was found under his body, its safety mechanism still engaged, as Goodson laid mortally wounded on the kitchen floor of his grandmother's house.
Meade, now 47, retired from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in 2021. He’s also a Baptist pastor. His defense attorney cited Meade’s oral and written accounts of what happened, and said the shooting was justified.
Ohio law defines murder as the purposeful causing of a death, while the lesser charge of reckless murder means the defendant acted recklessly in causing a death. The former is punishable by up to life in prison, while the latter carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Prosecutors said they were pleased with the guilty verdict on the reckless homicide charge and haven't decided yet whether to pursue a third trial on the murder charge.
Christopher Corne was driving nearby that day and testified for the prosecution at both trials. He said Goodson seemed to be dancing and singing in his truck shortly before the shooting. He also testified during the first trial that he did not see a gun in Goodson’s hand. Meade’s attorney pointed out inconsistencies, including that Corne said Goodson had either an Afro or a ponytail, when he was wearing a skullcap that day.
Columbus police Officer Samuel Rippey testified at the second trial that while he was administering emergency treatment to Goodson, he saw the gun, with an extended magazine, lying on the grandmother’s floor.
Goodson’s death provoked public outrage in Ohio as the killings of Black people by white officers increased demands for police reform following the killing of Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Banners were hung from highway overpasses in Columbus, carrying messages such as “Justice for Casey Goodson Jr.” and “Convict Murderer Meade.” The judge ordered law enforcement to remove them during the trial.
Previous Ohio prosecutions in such cases led to only one conviction — that of Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who was indicted on charges including murder in the 2020 killing of Andre Hill.
At least three Black children have been fatally shot by Ohio law enforcement, including Tamir Rice in Cleveland, age 12, in 2014; Tyre King in Columbus, age 13, in 2016; and Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, age 16, in 2021.
Other Black people killed by white officers in Ohio include John Crawford III in Beavercreek in 2014; Samuel DuBose in Cincinnati in 2015; Miles Jackson in Westerville in 2021; Donovan Lewis in Columbus in 2022; Jayland Walker in Akron in 2022; and Ta’Kiya Young, who was pregnant, in Columbus in 2023.
