COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy who was executing a warrant fatally shot a 23-year-old Black man uninvolved in the warrant six times — five times in the back and once in the gluteus — according to a coroner’s autopsy released Thursday.
The attorneys for the family of Casey Goodson Jr., who was killed outside his home on Dec. 6, also released the autopsy report early on Wednesday.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Friday that the autopsy report was "shocking, disturbing, and infuriating."
"Now that that autopsy is complete, it's time to see the grand jury, and move on with this process, and hold folks accountable. That's what we need to do is get justice for Casey Goodson, for Ms. Payne and his family," Ginther said.
Goodson was shot outside his home according to court documents, and he collapsed near the doorway. Goodson had been holding sandwiches, a keychain and was legally carrying a firearm.
Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin wrote in a statement Wednesday that while the autopsy is an important part of the investigation, more details are needed to understand what happened.
“Like everyone in our community, I want answers about Casey Goodson’s death as soon as possible,” Baldwin said. “However, the coroner’s report (Wednesday) doesn’t provide all of the facts needed to give us those answers. Physical and forensic evidence from the scene, as well as statements from any witnesses, will be crucial in providing the clearest picture of what happened.”
Goodson’s mother, Tamala Payne, shared her raw emotion in a Facebook post Thursday morning.
“Hey my baby....It’s been a sleepless night! You’ve been on my mind heavy!!! After seeing the pictures of your beautiful body riddled with bullets, speaking with Dr. Ortiz personally over a month ago and reading this report I still for the life of me can’t grasp this happened to you and I know it’s real!!! My heart just hurts soooooo bad BC you were for the right thing!!! But now the world knows the truth!!!,” she wrote. “It’s time this coward is thrown in jail like the dirty dog he is!!! Although my patience are super thin I am humbled by the fact that I know in my heart god’s hands is on this and we will prevail...I won’t stop until we do!!!!!”
Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Meade, who has not been charged with a crime, has been placed on administrative leave. Baldwin said Wednesday the department will take further actions against Meade if evidence shows he used force when Goodson was not a threat, but said, “criminal investigations over the years have shown that the physical location of gunshot wounds alone do not always tell the entire story of what happened.”
Meade’s attorney, Mark Collins, declined to comment on the case Wednesday, saying it would be “reckless” of him since he hasn’t seen the autopsy report.
Previously, Collins has alleged Goodson brandished a firearm, a claim that has not been verified and that the family denies.
U.S. Attorney Southern District PIO Jennifer Thornton said Wednesday no other details on the case are available at this time, and they are still investigating.
On Dec. 6, 2020, Goodson, 23, was returning home in the Clinton Estates neighborhood of north Columbus with sandwiches when he was confronted by Meade, according to police documents. The sheriff’s office claimed he was in the area serving a warrant, but the warrant didn’t have Goodson’s address.
Many details of the confrontation remain unclear. Meade, a 17-year veteran of the force, alleged Goodson reached for his gun. Goodson’s family members claimed that didn’t happen and said they watched the altercation take place.
Witnesses were interviewed on the scene that day, but the case wasn’t brought to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office until a few days later. The office declined to investigate, saying the witness interviews were already complete.
Then-U.S. Attorney for Southern Ohio David DeVillers decided to take on the case. The new acting U.S. Attorney Vipal Patel is investigating alongside the Columbus Police Department, the FBI’s Cincinnati Office, and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Calls to 911 released by Columbus police in December were from Goodson’s family.
“Somebody breaks into the house and shot my cousin,” one woman said, adding that he was on the ground dying.
Goodson’s grandmother, Sharon Payne, called dispatchers as well. She said Goodson lives at her house.
“My grandson just got shot in the back as he came in the house,” she said. “He’s not a bad kid. He doesn’t have a police record. He works. I don’t know what happened.”
This is the second high-profile case prosecutors reviewed of a law enforcement fatal shooting in Columbus in December 2020. Former Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted on murder charges for shooting and killing Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, according to court documents. Coy later secured his release posting a $1 million bond.
Tamala Payne, and the family’s attorney, Sean Walton, discussed the autopsy in an interview with The Breakfast Club on Feb. 13.
Payne said she met with Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz on Jan. 11, and said she was told he was shot six times in the back, which is more than the family previously thought.
In December, Ortiz said preliminary results found Goodson was shot multiple times in the torso, but didn’t say how many times or where. Family members who were home at the time say they saw three shots to his bleeding body.
A spokesperson for the Franklin County Coroner’s Office clarified to Spectrum News 1 Feb. 13 that the information regarding the six shots was put out by the family and not by the coroner since an official report had not been released at the time.