Case Files

The Casey Goodson Jr. Case: Ex-Deputy Jason Meade's Reckless Homicide Conviction, Explained

A note before you read: this is a true account of real people and a real crime. We tell it with care — centered on the victims, grounded in the record, and without gratuitous detail.

Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy as he entered his grandmother’s home in Columbus, Ohio, on December 4, 2020. More than five years later, in May 2026, that former deputy — Jason Meade — was convicted of reckless homicide, while the jury deadlocked on the more serious murder charge, and the judge declared a mistrial on that count. It is important to be precise about both halves of that outcome: Meade stands convicted of reckless homicide, and on the murder charge he has been neither convicted nor acquitted — it remains legally unresolved.

Who Casey Goodson Jr. Was

Before he became the name at the center of a years-long legal fight, Casey Christopher Goodson Jr. was a 23-year-old with a family that loved him. He was returning to his grandmother’s house — where family members were inside, including young children — when he was killed in the doorway. He was licensed to carry a firearm in Ohio. By the accounts that have anchored this case publicly, he was not the subject of any investigation that day; he had simply come home.

His mother, Tamala Payne, and his family have been the most consistent public voice in the case across both trials, insisting through years of delay that Casey not be reduced to a headline or a use-of-force statistic. That insistence — that he was a son and a grandson first — belongs at the center of this story. Whatever a future proceeding decides about the murder count, the loss is settled: a young man came home and did not walk back out.

What Happened

On December 4, 2020, Jason Meade — then a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force — was in the area on unrelated business; Casey Goodson Jr. was not a suspect in that operation. According to the account Meade gave and the case reported by outlets including CNN, CBS News, and ABC News, an encounter occurred as Goodson arrived at his grandmother’s home. According to trial testimony and reporting, Meade shot Goodson six times — five times in the back and once in the side — as Goodson was in or near the doorway.

There was no body-camera footage of the shooting, and no other witness testified that they saw what Meade said he saw. That evidentiary gap — a fatal shooting with no video and competing accounts — shaped everything that followed.

The Charges and Two Trials

Meade was indicted in 2021 on counts of murder and reckless homicide. His first trial, in early 2024, ended without a verdict when the jury could not agree — a mistrial. He was retried in 2026. After a roughly three-week trial and about seven hours of deliberation, the jury returned a split result in May 2026.

What the Prosecution Argued

Prosecutors argued that the shooting was not justified — that Meade used deadly force against a man who did not pose the threat Meade described. They emphasized that Goodson was shot multiple times in the back, that no independent witness corroborated Meade’s account that Goodson pointed or turned with a gun, and that no video captured the encounter. The state’s theory was that the killing was, at minimum, a reckless disregard for Goodson’s life.

What the Defense Argued

Meade’s defense maintained the shooting was justified. Meade testified that he saw Goodson holding a gun and turning toward him in the doorway, and that he fired believing his life was in danger. The defense pointed out that Goodson was lawfully permitted to carry a firearm and argued that a gun was recovered at the scene. The core of the defense was that a split-second use-of-force decision, made under perceived threat, was lawful — not criminal.

The Verdict — Stated Precisely

In May 2026 the jury found Meade guilty of reckless homicide. On the murder charge, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, and the court declared a mistrial on that count. This distinction matters: a mistrial is not an acquittal and not a conviction — it leaves the murder question open, and prosecutors may decide whether to retry it. What is settled is the reckless-homicide conviction. Reporting that erases the difference — calling the outcome a “murder conviction” or, conversely, treating it as a clean win for the defense — gets the record wrong.

The Accountability Question

Cases like this are why independent review of use-of-force matters. The absence of body-camera video, the fact that the only surviving account of the threat came from the person who fired, and the multiple wounds to the back are exactly the conditions under which a careful, evidence-first reconstruction — separate from any single party’s narrative — earns its keep. Our interest here is not to relitigate a jury’s verdict but to underline a system-level lesson: when a death turns entirely on one person’s perception with no recording, the institutional safeguards (body cameras, independent investigation, transparent evidence handling) are what stand between a family and never knowing — even in cases where, as the defense argued here, an officer’s split-second perception is genuinely hard to adjudicate after the fact. According to news coverage at the time of the verdict (CBS News, CNN), Meade is the second white law-enforcement officer convicted in the killing of a Black man in Ohio since 2020 — a point that speaks less to any one courtroom than to how rarely these cases reach this point at all.

Where the Case Stands Now

As of June 2026, Jason Meade stands convicted of reckless homicide and awaits sentencing, scheduled for June 16, 2026. The deadlocked murder count remains unresolved; whether the state retries it is a decision for prosecutors. Casey Goodson Jr.’s family has continued to call for full accountability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Jason Meade convicted of? Reckless homicide, in May 2026, for the 2020 shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr. The jury could not agree on the separate murder charge, so the judge declared a mistrial on that count.

Was Meade convicted of murder? No. The jury deadlocked on the murder charge and a mistrial was declared on it. A mistrial is not a conviction and not an acquittal — the murder count is legally unresolved, and prosecutors may choose whether to retry it.

Was this Meade’s first trial? No. His first trial, in 2024, also ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a verdict. The 2026 trial was the retrial.

Was Casey Goodson Jr. a suspect? No. He was not a suspect in the task-force operation that brought Meade to the area; he was returning to his grandmother’s home and was licensed to carry a firearm.

When is sentencing? Sentencing on the reckless-homicide conviction is scheduled for June 16, 2026.

Casey Goodson Jr. was 23 when he was killed coming home. Whatever happens with the unresolved murder count, he is the person this case is about — a son and grandson whose family has spent more than five years insisting the courts account for his death. His name belongs at the center of it.

Readers affected by violence or the loss of a loved one can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988). Families navigating a death involving law enforcement can find support through victim-advocacy organizations.

Sources

If you need support. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) · National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 (text START to 88788) · RAINN 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).