A police officer who fatally shot a Black man delivering sandwiches to his grandmother’s house in December 2020 was found guilty of manslaughter on Thursday. The death of Casey Goodson Jr. led to great public outrage in Ohio at the time.
Jurors could not agree on the most serious charge against former officer Jason Meade, that of murder, and the judge declared a mistrial on that count. The jury agreed on manslaughter. The amount of the penalty will be determined at a later date.
Meade, now 47, defended the volley of shots at 23-year-old Goodson — five times in the back and once in the side — by saying he saw the suspect brandishing a gun. However, no one else could testify that Goodson was seen with a gun and there were no cameras around.
Bag of sandwiches
Prosecutors say Goodson was holding a bag of sandwiches in one hand, his keys in the other, and listening to music through earphones when he was killed. The evidence also turns against the officer. Although Goodson was carrying a licensed pistol, it was found holstered under his body with the safety still engaged as he lay fatally wounded on the kitchen floor.
Meade, who retired the year after the shooting, is only the second white police officer convicted in the death of a Black man in Ohio since the death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests in 2020. Previous prosecutions in Ohio in such cases led to only one conviction: that of Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who was charged with, among other things, the 2020 murder of Andre Hill.
At least nine black suspects, including three children, were shot dead by a white officer in the American state between 2014 and 2023.