COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio sheriff's deputy who fatally shot Casey Goodson Jr. in the back five times was charged Thursday with murder in an encounter that led to racial justice protests, yet is still largely unexplained and involved no body camera or dash cam footage.
An attorney for the family of Goodson, who was Black, also announced a federal civil rights lawsuit against the now-retired white deputy who shot him, Jason Meade, and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, alleging wrongful death and excessive use of force.
The fatal shooting of Goodson took place in Columbus on Dec. 4, 2020, while Meade, a 17-year member of the sheriff's office, was finishing an unsuccessful search for a fugitive as part of his work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force.
Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search. U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin initially said Meade confronted Goodson after Goodson drove by and waved a gun at the deputy, but he later withdrew those comments, saying they'd been based on "insufficient information."
Tobin also said Meade was "not performing a mission" for the marshals at the time of the shooting.
Goodson was opening the door to his grandmother's house when he was shot, relatives say
Relatives say Goodson was opening the door to his grandmother's house at the time he was shot. Officials said that a gun was recovered from the scene but have not provided further details.
The family has said Goodson had a sandwich, not a gun, in his hand. But even if Goodson had been carrying a gun, the family has reiterated, he had a license to do so. The family planned a news conference Thursday.
The Franklin County coroner said in March that Goodson had been shot five times in the back.
A judge scheduled an initial hearing Friday for Meade. A message was left seeking comment from Meade's attorney, who has previously said the coroner's report has no bearing on what actually happened that day.
The case remains under criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney's office with help from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Goodson's mother, Tamala Payne, said she was "overwhelmed with joy" at word of the indictment.
"It's been a year of sadness, it's been a year of grief, it's been a year of pain," Payne said at a late morning news conference, surrounded by several relatives. "But I know that every day of this year, that my family and I wake up and just fight for what's right."
Goodson's family files a federal civil rights lawsuit
Also Thursday, attorney Sean Walton announced the family's wrongful-death lawsuit against Meade and the sheriff's office.
The lawsuit claims Meade received hundreds of hours on firearms and SWAT training but little on violence deescalation techniques, despite subpar performances as a deputy, including being placed on "no inmate contact status" for nearly four years. The lawsuit did not provide details of the reasons for that placement.
A message was left with the sheriff's office seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Although the shooting did not involve Columbus police, it came at a time of heightened tension over previous shootings of Black people by officers in Ohio's capital, a situation made worse less than three weeks later when a white Columbus police officer shot and killed 47-year-old Andre Hill as he emerged from a garage holding a cellphone.
That officer, Adam Coy, who was subsequently fired, has pleaded not guilty to murder and is scheduled for trial next year.
Large protests followed Goodson's shooting, with people shouting "Justice for Casey" as they blocked downtown streets.
Meade retired July 2 on disability. The deputy had been on administrative leave from the sheriff's office since the shooting.
Sheriff Dallas Baldwin had previously said that the autopsy did not "provide all of the facts needed," and that he will wait until the criminal investigation is complete before pursuing any disciplinary action against Meade.
Baldwin said Thursday that he has asked his staff to review the investigation when possible, to see what the agency can learn.
"This office has a professional obligation to do everything in its power to ensure the community and our deputies are kept safe," he said in a statement. "As I've said from the very beginning, I pray for everyone involved in this tragedy."
In June, Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack appointed two outside prosecutors to investigate, since the county prosecutor's office serves as legal counsel to the sheriff's office and anticipates having to defend the county and the law enforcement agency in this case.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
