The family of an Ohio man shot and killed by a former sheriff’s deputy will receive $7 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit over the December 2020 shooting.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the settlement late last month.
Casey Goodson Jr., 23, shot several times in December 2020 when he tried to enter his grandmother’s home in Columbus. His death — one of several involving black people killed by white police officers in Ohio over the past decade — sparked national outrage and calls for police reform.
Goodson’s family issued a statement calling the settlement historic.
“The settlement allows Casey’s family to resolve their civil claims against Franklin County, allowing them to fully concentrate on the upcoming retrial of Michael Jason Meade,” said family attorney Sean Walton. “While no amount of money can ever compensate for the loss of Casey, this settlement is a crucial recognition of the profound impact his death has had on his family and the wider community.”
Meade was charged with murder and reckless homicidebut a mistrial was announced in February when a jury could not agree on a verdict that ended tumultuous proceedings in which four jurors were dismissed. Prosecutors soon announced that he would face a new trial, which is scheduled to start on October 31, but they have since dropped one of the two murder cases he met.
Meade has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have said the prosecutor’s decision to seek another trial was due to political pressure from local elected officials.
Meade testified that Goodson waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other, so he pursued Goodson because he said he feared for his life and the lives of others. He said he ultimately shot Goodson because the young man turned on him with a gun.
Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said he was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other when he was fatally shot. They do not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun, noting that he had a license to carry a firearm.
Goodson’s gun, which had an extended magazine, was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with the safety engaged.
Meade was not wearing a body camera so there is no footage of the shooting, and prosecutors repeatedly argued during the first trial that Meade is the only person who testified that Goodson was holding a gun.