An Ohio police officer testified in a murder trial Wednesday that he heard gunshots but did not witness a sheriff’s deputy shoot and kill a Black man, nor did he see the weapon the deputy said Casey Goodson Jr. had used to threaten him.
Jason Meade is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the December 2020 killing of 23-year-old Goodson in Columbus . Meade, who is white, told jurors in his testimony Tuesday that Goodson waved a gun and aimed it at him as they drove by one another. Meade testified that he then pursued Goodson in his unmarked vehicle to Goodson’s grandmother’s home where the man turned to face him with a gun in his hand.
Meade shot Goodson six times with an assault-style rifle, including five times in his back.
According to his family and prosecutors, Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other when he was fatally shot as he tried to enter the side door of his grandmother’s house.
Columbus police Officer Ryan Rosser testified Wednesday for the defense that he and Meade had been working together on a fugitive task force assignment involving multiple law enforcement agencies prior to the shooting. He said he heard the gunshots but didn’t see what happened. His body camera captured the scene afterward but not the shooting itself.