COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Franklin County, Ohio, Sheriff's office deputy Jason Meade was indicted Thursday in the death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., who was shot nearly one year ago outside his home in the Northland neighborhood of Columbus.
The indictment, issued by a Franklin County grand jury, charges Meade, 44, with two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide.
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting, which occurred on the 3900 block of Estates Place at Goodson's residence, just after Meade wrapped up work with a federal fugitive task force in an unsuccessful search for a suspect in the area.
Meade, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff's office who was a member of the SWAT team, left the sheriff's office July 2 on disability retirement.
Mark Collins, Meade's defense attorney, said Meade turned himself in Thursday morning and will have his initial appearance in Franklin County Municipal Court on Friday.
He said Meade will plead not guilty and they intend to ask for a reasonable bond.
"The indictment was not a surprise, nor was the timing," Collins said. "We intend to vigorously defend him and make sure he receives all the due process rights afforded to him under the Constitution."
Very little information has been released about the shooting, for which there are no known eyewitnesses and no video. Meade was not wearing a body camera, a piece of equipment that Franklin County deputies did not and still don't have.
Nearly a year after the fatal shooting, the sheriff's office said Thursday it is still finalizing policy guidelines for the implementation of body cameras. Once those policy guidelines are in place, the county commissioners will be able to place a purchase order. There was not immediately a timeline available for the completion of that process.
Reaction from Goodson's family, FOP, Sheriff Dallas Baldwin, others
"I'm overwhelmed with joy," Goodson's mother, Tamala Payne, said Thursday morning during a news conference called by the family's attorney, Sean Walton. "My emotions are everywhere."
Walton and Payne were flanked at the event by 15 other family members, all of whom wore shirts bearing images of Goodson.
"While we celebrate this win, we know this isn't over," Walton said. "We know the ultimate end game is a conviction for the murder of Casey Goodson."
An official with the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, the local police union that represents Franklin County Sheriff's deputies, Columbus police and other local law enforcement, released a statement expressing respect for the grand-jury process, but also for Meade.
"It is not lost on us that this announcement comes only days before the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting and planned protest Saturday at City Hall," wrote Brian A. Steel, FOP vice president. "Justice is not an outcome. Justice is a process. We continue to stand by retired deputy Meade and await the outcome of the jury trial. Our thoughts and prayers are extended to all the families impacted by this incident."
Sheriff Dallas Baldwin, said in a statement Thursday morning after the grand jury indictment that he has "reminded my staff that while everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, 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. It's vital to maintain that trust, which is why I'm asking 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."
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin reacted to The Dispatch's breaking news tweet about the indictment by saying he hoped "it gives the Goodson family "momentary relief as we approach the 1-year anniversary of Casey's murder."
All fatal uses of force by law enforcement in Franklin County are presented to a grand jury under a procedure established decades ago by the county prosecutor's office.
Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack hired veteran Columbus lawyers H. Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer as special prosecutors to present the case to the grand jury.
Tyack chose not to prosecute the case himself because his office serves as the legal counsel for the sheriff's office, and his office will have to defend the county against civil litigation relating to Goodson's death.
Goodson family files federal civil lawsuit hours after indictment
In fact, hours after Meade's indictment, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed on behalf of Goodson's estate by his family in U.S. District Court in Columbus. The lawsuit names Meade and Franklin County and the county as defendants.
Walton said at a press conference Thursday that the lawsuit was not filed as a result of the indictment, but because certain claims in the case have a one-year liability limit.
According to the lawsuit, Goodson's estate is seeking damages for wrongful death and the violation of Goodson's civil rights, as well as alleging the sheriff's office did not properly train or supervise Meade.
The lawsuit alleges that Meade received significantly more training in firearms use and expertise than in any other area, including de-escalation, and that the training was completed in such a way that there was an apparent lack of review or supervision of the training. The lawsuit said Meade's records at the sheriff's office showed he last received de-escalation training in 2014 and completed the training in under four minutes.
Goodson's estate also call Meade a "religious zealot" in the lawsuit, saying he derived pleasure from being engaged in physical combat. "Jason Meade finds happiness in exercising force," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also said Goodson's grandmother, whose home Goodson was shot in and was inside at the time the shooting took place, suffered a stroke later that same evening.
Federal probe against Meade ongoing
Within days of Goodson's death, the FBI became involved and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced that it would oversee a joint investigation into the case.
However, the federal investigation has become a separate operation, presumably to pursue any potential civil-rights violations related to the shooting.
"The federal review remains open and ongoing," Jennifer Thornton, a spokeswoman for the local U.S. Attorney's Office, said in an email Thursday morning.
Federal investigators were asked to become involved after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office declined a request from Columbus police for his office's Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to handle the case, as agencies appeared to be playing hot potato with the probe.
Yost said he rejected the request because Columbus police waited until three days after the shooting to seek BCI help.
"We do tough investigations all the time — but from the beginning," Yost tweeted at the time. "This one belongs to CPD."
Casey Goodson Jr. death: What Meade's attorney, Goodson's family say happened
Meade's attorney, Mark Collins, has said that Goodson pointed a handgun at the deputy, which led to the confrontation. Meade reportedly then pursued Goodson to the residence in an unmarked car and shot him as he was attempting to enter the home.
Goodson's family has said that he was carrying Subway sandwiches for family members to the home following a dentist's appointment and had his keys in the kitchen door when Meade shot him multiple times in the back. Goodson, the family has said, had a concealed carry permit for his handgun, which was recovered at the scene although investigators have not said where.
An autopsy determined that Goodson was shot six times in his torso, with five of the bullets entering his back.
Baldwin issued a statement after the autopsy findings were released in which he wrote, "the physical location of gunshot wounds alone do not always tell the entire story of what happened."
Columbus City Council members announced on Nov. 4 that they would honor Goodson, a truck driver, by naming a publicly funded commercial driver's license training program after him.
Three former law enforcement officers facing murder charges
Meade is the third Franklin County law-enforcement officer to be charged with murder in the past three years for an on-duty shooting.
Former Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted in February in the Dec. 22, 2020, death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, an unarmed man who was shot as he emerged from a darkened garage at a Northwest Side home where he was an invited guest.
Former Columbus Police Vice Officer Andrew Mitchell was indicted in April 2019 in the Aug. 23, 2018, death of 23-year-old Donna Castleberry, who was shot three times in the backseat of Mitchell's parked, unmarked police vehicle in Franklinton during what prosecutors described as undercover prostitution encounter.
Mitchell also is under indictment in U.S. District Court in Columbus on FBI charges that he forced women to engage in sexual conduct in exchange for their freedom.
Coy and Mitchell are free on a $1 million bond each while awaiting trial.
Like Meade, both are represented by Collins.
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(Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this report.)
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