After more than five years of legal battles, two trials, and a family’s relentless pursuit of accountability, a former Ohio deputy will finally face prison time for firing six bullets into the back of a young man carrying sandwiches into his grandmother’s home.
Story Snapshot
- Jason Meade, former Franklin County deputy, convicted of reckless homicide on May 7, 2026, for the December 2020 shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr.
- Jury deadlocked on murder charge, resulting in partial mistrial, but unanimous guilty verdict on recklessness led judge to revoke bond and remand Meade to custody
- Goodson, 23, was shot six times in the back while holding sandwiches and a legally permitted firearm outside his home
- First trial in 2024 ended in hung jury; sentencing scheduled for July 16, 2026, with Meade facing up to 11 years in prison
- Case marks rare conviction of law enforcement officer and sets precedent for prosecuting recklessness versus intentional harm in police shootings
When Sandwiches Became Evidence in a Fatal Encounter
Casey Goodson Jr. returned to his grandmother’s Columbus home on December 4, 2020, carrying Subway sandwiches for his family. He also carried a firearm, legally permitted under his concealed carry license. Within moments, Deputy Jason Meade fired six shots into his back in under two seconds. Goodson never made it through the door. The 23-year-old father collapsed in the doorway, sandwiches still in hand, while his grandmother and young siblings witnessed the aftermath from inside. Meade claimed self-defense, insisting Goodson pointed a weapon at him. The physical evidence told a different story entirely.
A Pattern of Shootings and a Prosecution Five Years in the Making
Meade was no stranger to deadly force. The December 2020 shooting marked his fourth involvement in a firearms incident during his career, with prior shootings in 2007, 2012, and 2016 resulting in no charges. He was conducting a cold patrol, responding to an unrelated 911 call about a suicidal man with a gun in a different location, when he encountered Goodson. Prosecutors argued Meade recklessly pursued and shot Goodson without verifying any threat. A grand jury indicted him in January 2021 on two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, and reckless homicide. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office fired him the following month.
Two Trials and a Split Verdict That Changed Everything
The first trial in October 2024 collapsed when jurors could not reach consensus, ending in a mistrial. The retrial in May 2026 brought the Goodson family back into a courtroom where defense experts like William Lewinski argued Meade’s fear justified the shooting. Prosecution witnesses, including use-of-force analyst James Williams, countered that pursuing Goodson without cause constituted an unreasonable and conscious disregard for human life. On May 7, 2026, the jury announced its verdict: guilty of reckless homicide, but deadlocked on the murder charge. Judge David Young declared a mistrial on count one and immediately revoked Meade’s quarter-million-dollar bond, sending him into custody pending sentencing.
What Reckless Homicide Means for Police Accountability
The conviction hinged on jury instructions defining reckless homicide as a conscious disregard of substantial risk. Prosecutors did not need to prove Meade intended to kill Goodson, only that he acted with such negligence that death became a foreseeable outcome. This legal threshold proves easier to meet than murder charges requiring proof of intent or premeditation. Legal analysts note the verdict validates a middle ground in cases where officers act impulsively rather than maliciously. For the Columbus Black community and reform advocates nationwide, the conviction represents a crack in the wall of qualified immunity that typically shields law enforcement from criminal liability in fatal shootings.
The Broader Implications for Legal Gun Owners and Law Enforcement
Goodson’s case raises uncomfortable questions about the Second Amendment rights of legal gun owners, particularly Black Americans, in encounters with police. He possessed a valid concealed carry permit, yet carrying that firearm near his own home cost him his life. Similar cases, such as the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota, underscore the lethal consequences when lawful gun ownership intersects with split-second police decisions. Ohio’s stand-your-ground laws and the national debate over qualified immunity frame this case as a bellwether. Will legal gun ownership remain protected in practice, or does it function differently depending on the carrier’s race? The Goodson verdict suggests juries may hold officers accountable when recklessness, not reasonable fear, drives the trigger pull.
A former Ohio deputy has been found guilty of reckless homicide in the shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. https://t.co/mBS2udyWVc pic.twitter.com/ZVcZlZ83dM
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) May 8, 2026
The Goodson family endured over five and a half years watching Meade remain free on bond while their son lay in a grave. Their wrongful death lawsuit settled in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, but the criminal trial offered something money could not: a measure of validation that Casey Goodson Jr. did not deserve to die. As they left the courthouse after the verdict, family members expressed relief tempered by frustration that the murder charge remained unresolved. Sentencing on July 16, 2026, will determine whether Meade serves the maximum 11 years or receives a lighter sentence. For a community scarred by repeated police killings and a family that refused to let their son’s death fade into obscurity, the conviction represents an imperfect but undeniable step toward accountability that too often remains out of reach.
Sources:
ABC News: Former Deputy Jason Meade Convicted of Reckless Homicide
