COLUMBUS, Ohio — The family of Casey Goodson Jr. has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Franklin County and former Sheriff's Deputy Jason Meade, who was indicted on murder and reckless homicide charges Thursday.
The lawsuit, announced by Goodson's family Thursday morning, was filed on the behalf of Goodson’s estate in U.S. District Court. There is no specified dollar amount but the family said it's asking for that to be determined at trial. The 23-page lawsuit alleges excessive force, wrongful death and misconduct among law enforcement.
On Dec. 6, 2020, Goodson, 23, a Black man, 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.
Meade, a 17-year veteran of the force, alleged Goodson reached for his gun.
Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search. While U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin initially said Meade confronted Goodson after Goodson drove by and waved a gun at the deputy, he later withdrew those comments, saying they’d been based on “insufficient information.”
Tobin also said Meade was "not performing a mission” for the marshals at the time of the shooting.
Relatives say Goodson was opening the door to his grandmother’s house at the time he was shot. Officials said that a gun was recovered from the scene but have not provided further details. There was no body camera or cruiser dash cam video of the shooting.
The case remains under criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office with help from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Meade retired on disability from the office in July.
Brian Steel, the vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said Thursday in a statement that the lodge continues to stand by Meade until the outcome of the jury trial.
"As we have stated before, we believe every citizen deserves due process and a law enforcement officer is no different. We respect the Franklin County Grand Jury process and thank the citizens of our great community who comprise it. However, it is not lost on us that this announcement comes only days before the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting and planned protest this Saturday at City Hall," Steel wrote. "Justice is not an outcome. Justice is a process."
The family of Goodson, along with their legal teams Walton + Brown, LLP and Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein will hold a press conference Thursday at 11 a.m. in response to the indictment.
Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin also released a statement Thursday, and said he reminded his staff that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
“As law enforcement officers we must meet this higher standard because of the immense trust we ask the community to place in us," Baldwin wrote. "It’s vital to maintain that trust, which is why I’ve tasked members of my staff to review the facts from the independent investigation when we’re able to fully access them and determine how this agency can best learn from this tragedy. This office has a professional obligation to do everything in its power to ensure the community and our deputies are kept safe. As I’ve said from the very beginning, I pray for everyone involved in this tragedy.”
The autopsy report released in March shows Goodson was shot five times in the back and once in the gluteus.
Columbus has had multiple high-profile police shootings over the last year, including Goodson.
A few weeks after Goodson's death, Andre Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a former Columbus police officer on Dec. 22, 2020. Another case was the death of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, a Black teenager, who was also shot and killed by a Columbus policer officer in April.
Following the deaths, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther asked the U.S. Department of Justice to probe the police department in late April, which came a week after Bryant's death. Ginther asked the DOJ to evaluate current efforts to reform its force, as well as identify any racial disparities that exist within the division.
The DOJ accepted the city's request in September and is currently reviewing the department's practices, including training, recruitment and more.
This story will be updated with more information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.