ACCOUNTABILITY

Cop Charged With Murder for Shooting Ohio Man 5 Times Outside His Home

Casey Goodson Jr.’s family said he was carrying Subway sandwiches for his family and his keys when Jason Meade opened fire.

A Franklin County, Ohio sheriff’s deputy was charged with murder Thursday after shooting a man in a baffling encounter in which there was no known eyewitnesses, no surveillance footage and no body-cam footage. Jason Meade, a white 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, had just wrapped up an unsuccessful fugitive search with the U.S. Marshals Service when he encountered Casey Goodson Jr., a Black man, in a car on Dec. 4 2020. Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search but Meade’s lawyer claims Goodson waved a gun at Meade, who was in an unmarked car. Meade then pursued Goodson to a home and shot him at least six times as he was trying to get inside. Five of those shots entered through Goodson’s back.

Goodson’s family said he had a concealed carry permit and was on his way home from a dentist appointment when Meade pursued him. They say he was only carrying Subway sandwiches for his family and his keys when Meade opened fire. U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin previously said Goodson had waved a gun at Meade but later retracted it, saying it was based on “insufficient information.” Meade is charged with two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide.