Former Deputy Charged with Murder in Casey Goodson Jr. Case

Jury convicts former deputy on reckless homicide charge, but mistrial on murder charge.
Victim was carrying food, not a gun, when killed outside his home, according to testimony.
Case highlights ongoing issues of police use of force and lack of accountability.

Judge's gavel and sound block on wooden table against brown background, closeup. Space for text — Source: Olga Yastremska / Getty

A former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy has been found guilty of reckless homicide in the 2020 shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr., a case that became one of Ohio’s most closely watched police killings following the nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.

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On Thursday, a jury convicted former deputy Jason Meade on the lesser charge of reckless homicide, but jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on the more serious murder charge.

The judge declared a mistrial on that count.

Meade, who is white, shot Goodson six times in December 2020, five times in the back and once in the side, outside his grandmother’s home in Columbus. He claimed the shooting was justified, saying he believed Goodson pointed a gun at him while entering the house.

But prosecutors argued the evidence told a different story.

According to testimony, the 23-year-old was carrying a bag of Subway sandwiches in one hand and keys in the other when he was killed. Family members and prosecutors said Goodson appeared unaware Meade was even behind him. Witnesses also testified they never saw a gun in Goodson’s hands.

Investigators later recovered a firearm near Goodson’s body with the safety still engaged, along with a holster tucked into his waistband. Goodson was legally licensed to carry.

The case went to trial twice after the first proceeding ended in a mistrial in 2024 when jurors couldn’t reach a verdict.

Over the course of the retrial, jurors heard from nearly two dozen witnesses, including civilians, police officers, medical experts, and use-of-force specialists. One witness testified that Goodson appeared to be singing and dancing in his truck moments before the shooting. Another neighbor claimed she heard someone yell “put your gun down” before shots rang out.

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There was no body camera footage of the shooting because the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office had not yet equipped deputies with body cameras at the time.

During closing arguments, special prosecutors argued Meade escalated the encounter without justification and failed to prove Goodson posed an immediate threat.

Defense attorneys maintained that Meade acted based on his law enforcement training and believed he was facing a life-or-death situation.

Meade (47) retired from the sheriff’s department in 2021 and also serves as a Baptist pastor. Unlike the first trial, he did not testify in his own defense during the retrial.

Goodson’s death sparked widespread outrage across Ohio, with protesters demanding accountability and broader police reform. Banners calling for justice were hung across Columbus highway overpasses throughout the original proceedings.

Debera Diggs, holds a placard advocating for Casey Goodson — Source: SOPA Images / Getty

The conviction makes Meade one of only a small number of white law enforcement officers in Ohio to be convicted in the killing of a Black person in recent years. Previous high-profile Ohio cases involving the deaths of Tamir Rice, Samuel DuBose, Jayland Walker, and Ta’Kiya Young all intensified calls for changes in policing and accountability statewide.