Jason Meade, the former Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy who shot Goodson, was not wearing a body camera when he shot Goodson. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The former Franklin County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed Casey Goodson, Jr. was charged with murder Thursday morning.
Jason Meade, a 17-year veteran of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide for the Dec. 4, 2020, killing of 23-year-old Goodson, according to court documents.
According to county booking records, Meade was taken into custody Thursday morning and is currently being held in the Franklin County Jail.
Meade retired on disability from the sheriff’s office July 2, according to the Associated Press. He had been on administrative leave since December 2020, immediately following the shooting.
The path to a murder charge has been long and difficult, Sean Walton, attorney for Goodson’s family, said at a Thursday press conference.
“We now know that based on the facts that a grand jury heard, a murder occurred,” Walton said.
Goodson died after being shot multiple times in the torso outside of a home in northeast Columbus by Meade, according to a statement from Columbus Police. At the time, Meade was in the area as part of the U.S. Marshals Task Force looking for violent criminals. Goodson was not one of the task force’s persons of interest, but Meade reported witnessing a man with a gun and pursued him.
Mark Collins, Meade’s attorney, said Goodson pointed a firearm at Meade and did not comply with orders to drop the weapon.
“Jason screamed several times identifying himself as a law enforcement officer and pleaded with Mr. Goodson to show his hands,” Collins said. “However, Mr. Goodson ignored Jason’s commands.”
Columbus Police stated in December 2020 a gun was recovered from the scene, but Goodson’s family maintains that Goodson was holding a sandwich, not a firearm, and that he had a license to carry a concealed weapon.
Goodson’s family said in a December 2020 statement that he was opening the door to his grandmother’s home at the time he was shot.
Autopsy reports from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office show that Goodson was shot five times in the back and once in the buttocks.
The statement further said deputies assigned to task forces, like Meade, are not issued body cameras. Therefore, there is no body camera footage of the shooting.
Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said in a statement Thursday that he has asked his staff to review the investigation to avoid similar occurrences in the future.
“I’ve tasked members of my staff to review the facts from the independent investigation when we’re able to fully access them and determine how this agency can best learn from this tragedy,” Baldwin said. “This office has a professional obligation to do everything in its power to ensure the community and our deputies are kept safe.”
Tamala Payne, Goodson’s mother, said at the Thursday press conference her son was murdered by “a man filled with hate.”
“It’s been a year of sadness, a year of grief and a year of pain. Every day of this year that my family and I wake up, all we do is fight,” Payne said.
In a statement, Brian Steel, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said Thursday’s indictments are part of a process that the organization will continue to follow.
“As we have stated before, we believe every citizen deserves due process, and a law enforcement officer is no different,” Steel said. “Justice is a process. We continue to stand by Retired Deputy Meade and await the outcome of the jury trial.”
Correction: A previous version of this story stated Goodson was unarmed. This has not been confirmed.
