Murder retrial begins in deputy's shooting of Black man in Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial of a former Ohio sheriff's deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide in the 2020 killing of Casey Goodson Jr., a Black man shot multiple times in the back while entering his grandmother's house, according to LEX 18 News.

Jason Meade, a former Franklin County Deputy who is white, shot Goodson on Dec. 4, 2020, during what Meade said was a pursuit after the 23-year-old waved a gun at him while the two drove past each other. The shooting sparked protests in Columbus and raised questions about police accountability, particularly because the sheriff's office had not equipped its deputies with body cameras or dash cameras at the time.

The retrial comes more than two years after a jury deadlocked in the original trial, prompting a judge to declare a mistrial in 2024. During the first trial, Meade testified that he fired at Goodson as the man entered his grandmother's home because Goodson turned toward him with a gun. However, Goodson was shot six times, including five times in the back.

Prosecutors and Goodson's family disputed Meade's account, saying Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other when he was fatally shot. While prosecutors did not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a licensed gun, they noted that Meade was the only person to testify that Goodson was holding a weapon. Goodson's gun was later found on his grandmother's kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged.

The shooting occurred as Meade was finishing an unsuccessful search for a fugitive as part of work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Goodson was not the subject of that search, and the Marshals Service said Meade was not performing a mission for them at the time of the shooting. Meade has since retired.

Jury problems plagued the first trial, with one juror dismissed during testimony, replaced by an alternate, and three others dismissed and replaced during deliberations, forcing the panel to restart deliberations multiple times. Court officials did not disclose why the jurors were removed.