Murder retrial begins in deputy's killing of a Black man entering his
grandmother's Ohio home
[April 24, 2026]
By PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial
of a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy charged with murder and reckless
homicide for killing a Black man who was shot multiple times in the back
while entering his grandmother’s house.
The shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. by former Franklin County Deputy Jason
Meade, who is white, led to protests in Columbus and lingering
questions, in part because the sheriff’s office didn’t equip its
deputies with body cameras or dash cameras.
Meade faced the same charges at his first trial. The judge in that case
declared a mistrial in 2024 after the jury couldn't agree on a verdict.
Attorney Howard Merkle, a special prosecutor for the case, recounted
events that he said led up to the shooting, and urged jurors to consider
the evidence he said proves Meade’s use of force was unreasonable.
“The evidence will show that on December 4, 2020, the defendant shot
Casey Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him,” he said.
“At the time, Casey had entered his house, was carrying a bag of Subways
and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods,” Merkle said.
Meade testified in the first trial that Goodson waved a gun at him as
the two drove past each other and that he pursued Goodson because he
feared for his life and the lives of others. He said he eventually fired
as Goodson entered his grandmother’s home because the 23-year-old man
turned toward him with a gun.
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens said the now-retired deputy feared for
his life in the confrontation with Goodson, and said officers do “not
have to wait to be shot at in order to protect themselves.”
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The mother of Casey Goodson Jr., Tamala Payne, covers her ears
during opening statements in the retrial offormer Franklin County
Deputy Jason Meade, who is charged with murder and reckless homicide
in the 2020 killing of Goodson Jr., inside Franklin County Common
Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Doral
Chenoweth/Pool Photo via AP)
“The evidence will show that Jason Meade was justified, a justified
tragedy,” she said.
Meade had been searching unsuccessfully for a fugitive that day as
part of his work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Goodson was
not the subject of the fugitive search, and the Marshals have said
Meade wasn’t performing a mission for them at the time.
Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said Goodson was holding a
sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other, having unlocked
the front door, when he was fatally shot. They did not dispute that
Goodson may have been carrying a gun, which he had a license to
carry, but prosecutors have noted that Meade has been the only
person to testify that Goodson was holding a gun.
Goodson’s weapon was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with
the safety mechanism engaged.
Jurors in the previous trial deadlocked after one was dismissed
during testimony and replaced by an alternate and three others were
dismissed and replaced during deliberations, forcing the panel to
restart deliberations multiple times. Court officials did not say
why the jurors were removed.
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