Ex-Sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the killing of Casey Goodson Jr. outside grandmother’s house in Columbus
Officials say a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy who served for 17 years with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has been charged for the Dec. 4th shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr. a black man in Columbus. The ex-deputy could face between 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the crime.
Authorities say ex-deputy 44-year-old Jason Meade was arraigned Thursday morning on two counts of murder charges and one count of reckless homicide in connection to the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Goodson. Preliminary investigation revealed the black man was shot multiple times in front of his grandmother’s residence while carrying Subway sandwiches.
The shooting prompted racial-justice protests throughout Ohio and calls for police accountability. The case remains under criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office with assistance from the Justice Department.
Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin addressed Meade’s indictment Thursday, saying in a statement that
“The standards for being a Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy must be even higher than that of our criminal justice system.” “As law enforcement officers we must meet this higher standard because of the immense trust we ask the community to place in us,” “As I’ve said from the very beginning, I pray for everyone involved in this tragedy.”In the early afternoon of Dec. 4, 2020, Goodson had just returned from the dentist carrying Subway sandwiches and was unlocking the door to go inside his grandmother’s house in northeast Columbus. Goodson had lost his job as a truck driver because of the coronavirus pandemic but found work in retail to help support his mother. Nearby, Meade, who was working with a U.S. Marshals Service task force, was finishing up an unsuccessful search for a fugitive in the area. Then he spotted Goodson, who was not the subject of the search.
Demonstrators protesting Goodson’s killing raised Subway sandwiches above their hands in front of the Ohio Statehouse, in a symbolic gesture to the memory of a man whose life relatives and supporters say ended with unjust violence. Those protests were amplified weeks later when a White police officer in Columbus fatally shot 47-year-old Andre Hill, Black man who was holding a cellphone. Adam Coy, who was fired from the force, has pleaded not guilty in a trial expected to start in 2022.