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So it begins…
Some of you may not remember his name unfortunately because the year 2020 was rife with Black men and women being fatally gunned down by police officers, but Casey Goodson Jr. was returning to his grandmother’s home with sandwiches when he was shot dead by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade. Meade claims that Goodson waved a firearm at him and feared for his life prior to pulling the trigger on an AR-15-style rifle. Upon investigation, however, several pieces of evidence contradicted Meade’s trite tale about being in danger.
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First and foremost, as BOSSIP previously reported, Goodson was shot six times in the back, which brings into question how he could have possibly pointed a gun at Meade with his back turned. Goodson was a licensed concealed firearms carrier, and according to ABC News, prosecutor Gary Shroyer revealed for the very first time that Goodson’s pistol was found in his kitchen with the safety on during the subsequent investigation. This again brings into question whether or not Meade is actually telling the truth about his “endangered life.”
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The trial against Meade began Jan. 31, 2024, and Shroyer’s opening statement set the tone for how he would be making his case for Meade to be held accountable and imprisoned.
“Six shots in the back,” special prosecutor Gary Shroyer said in his opening statement Wednesday. “All fired by the defendant into the back of Casey Goodson with no reasonable basis for the defendant to perceive a threat by Casey. It’s an unjustified shooting. Casey was only 23 years old at the time the defendant killed him. [Meade] was a Franklin County County Deputy at the time. Casey’s death is a tremendous loss to his family.”
Despite Meade’s attorney’s best efforts to get this case moved to federal court where he might have an easier trial, NBC News reports that a federal judge denied the move on the basis that Meade was off-duty at the time of the fatal shooting. Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. found that not only did Meade not have the authority to arrest Goodson, but he was not in his acting role as a federal officer. A grand jury agreed and here we are.
We will provide more information as the trial continues.
