An Ohio jury failed to reach a verdict in the murder case for the ex-deputy accused of killing Casey Goodson Jr. in 2020, resulting in a mistrial this week.
Goodson, a 23-year-old Black man, was fatally shot multiple times in the back by former Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputy Jason Meade outside of Goodson’s family’s Columbus home that December. He was charged with murder and reckless homicide the following year. It happened amid a wave of high-profile cases of Black people getting killed at the hands of law enforcement.
On Friday, Feb. 16, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Young announced a mistrial but backtracked, hailing the jury for their efforts, The Associated Press reported. The jury told him they could not reach a concrete decision, but he urged them to keep deliberating. However, the jury deadlocked hours later, and the judge confirmed the mistrial, per the report.
“There were jurors back there that obviously felt that Jason Meade was responsible for the unjustifiable killing of Casey Goodson. And that should make a statement,” Goodson’s family attorney, Sean Walton, told the outlet.