warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.

The 4th of December 2020 began as a quiet morning at the Payne family home in Columbus, Ohio. The calm of the household was interrupted when 23 year-old Casey returned home from his dentist appointment.

Casey was shot to death just inside the doorway of his grandmother’s house; crashing onto the kitchen floor, the sandwiches he purchased for lunch falling to the ground next to him.

The following moments were traumatic – and chaotic. In the confusion, a few things became clear: Casey had been killed by a Sheriff’s Deputy. He had no criminal history or associations and had been trying to enter the house where he lived. Casey also carried a gun.

the 4th of december  2020 began as a quiet morning at the payne family home in colombus ohio,the regular calm of the househould was interrupted when 23 year old returned  home from his dentist appointment.

casey was shot to death ,just inside the doorway of his grandmother’s house.the sandwiches he had purchased  for lunch  falling to the ground next  to him.

the following moments were traumatic and chaotic,in the confusion a few things became clear.casey had been killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

he had no criminal history or associations and had been trying to enther the house where he lived….but casey  also carried a gun.

sharon payne had lived in her house on a  state place in columbus Ohio for 23 years.by december 2020,she had retired from decades working in customers survice at a local bank.

sharon was a widow,but the house that she and her husband had purchased  so many years ago was now full of the family that they had built together.

on the morning of  december 4th, her daughter tamila dropped her five year  old son at the house before going to work.he was unwell  and unable to attend school that day.

sharon was also caring for her 10 year old granddaughter and 4 year old  great-granddaughter that morning.

as it approached noon she prepared bowls of oatmeal for the children.bringing two of the little ones to her room  at the back of the house.the youngest  4 year old leah  sat at the kitchen table.

off of the kitchen is a side door to the house.the one commonly used by the family.

while the children ate,this side door was unlocked and opened, almost simultaneously,a serious loud  popping  noises rang out,debris from gunfire flew into  the small kitchen.

sharon’s grandson casey goodson or CJ as his family  affectionately knew him  fell face first   from the doorway onto the kitchen floor.

sharon’s son ernest  had been in the  living room when casey fell through the doorway,casey’s younger sister 17 year old jana was in her room just down the hallway.

they collected the children and insisted that sharon keep her distance from the kitchen. from the back of the house ,the grandmother tried to explain to the operator what  had occured.

after emergency responders  reached the house ,sharon payne overwhelmed and  distressed  fainted on the front steps.she was hospitalized for 2 days.

when sharon awoke from her treatment the first  thing she remembered was seeing her grandson gunned down and no longer conscious collapsed on her kitchen floor.

the southern Ohio fugitive apprehension strike team is a law enforcement unit operated and supervised by the US marshall service.it is made up  of federal  state and local law enforcement officers.the purpose of the unit is to locate and apprehend fugitives with active warrants for their arrest.

on the morning of december 4th  the US marshals team had a warrant for the arrest of an individual who lived on a state’s place.just down the road from sharon payne’s house.

the team was unsuccessful in apprehending the fugitive they sought that morning, he wasn’t at home, at around  noon the task force leader instructed.

officer ryan rosser was driving his  unmarked US marshals truck from a state place turning left onto ferris road, he followed the truck driven  by another member of the  task force. franklin county sheriff deputy meade full time member  also drove  an unmarked marshal’s truck.

the two  vehicles proceed dwn a short stretch on ferris road before approaching the intersection with carl road. where they both slowed to a stop  on are d light.

when it was time to proceed through the intersection rosser watched as the truck ahead of him made his turn only to do a U -turn and and come  straight back  towards him..

deputy meade  slow  as he passed his teammate’s truck  with the windows rolled down he stated to rosser in a panick we ‘ve go ,he ‘s got a gun.his got a gun..

rosser U -turned as well and followed deputy meade back to estate’s place in the direction they had just come.

but when they arrived meade did not returned to the house where they had executed the warrant that morning.instead  rosser watched as  his teammate parked ,jumped out of t the cap of his truck and ran towards the tailgate.

jason meade rapidly retrieved his  gear, he put on his bulletproof vest and grabbed his rifle. jason then indicated towards a man who had  just gotten out of a small black car up the street.

the same car that he had followed from the intersection ” thats him ” meade said.

before rosser could gather his gear , deputy meade had  jumped  back into his truck and driven further  down the road towards the man.

who apear to be the back of one of the houses.the small car he drove a nissan versa was parked on the wrong side of the road..

and now  according to rosser the suspect had  picked up speed on foot  while he moved closer to the back of the house .

officer rosser  as well as neighbors on the road heard  jason meade call out ” show me your hands,show me your hands”

then just moments later,shots were fired.

body cam footage from responding local police caught the the moments after the shooting, at that time US marshall services were in the early stages of rolling out a body came program to their task force units across the country.

neither officer rosser nor deputy meade wore a camera  that day .

in the house casey’s grandmother sharon and sister jana both caught  a glimpse of the aftermath  in the kitchen before they  were ushered from the room and ultimately out of the house by  blaw enforcement.

they saw CJ on the floor.

when responding officers turned him over  seeking to provide  medical aid thy found casey’s handgun on the floor under him.

it was out of its holster but the safety remained on,CJ owned the gun legally and he had  a concealed  carry permit.

next to casey was a bag of subway sandwiches collected on  his trip home from the dentist.

in his ears were an aipod headset.borrowed from his younger sister.

in the main door were his set of keys. the secondary external storm door with a glass in metal mesh covering the top half had been shattered.

three gunshot holes wer made through this external door.

there were six shell casings located next to the gate leading to the side door.it was from this location that jason meade had fired his  rifle.

the deputy having  his weapon set to automatic had pulled the trigger only once but that had the effect of firing six bullets. all of these had found their target.

CJ sustained six gunshot wounds,five to the torso and one in the buttocks, all six entered from the back,casey had not been facing jason meade when the deputy fired.

the shots had been fatal,despite US marshall’s rendering Aid rapidly,it was too late.an investigation into the shooting was launched.

casey  goodson Jr was 23 years old when he died. after graduating from high school CJ studied  and obtained  his commercial driving license and for a time he took on a truck driving job,doing  long haul trips for a walmart supplier.

casey loved it,it took him from Ohio to california ,but it also  took him away from his family.

early in the  year CJ’s mother, tamila  gave birth  to prematurely to twins after this  CJ moved back home to columbus and took a job working in at a warehouse  to help contribute financially.he also lent a hand with the new  arrivals.

casey thought he would eventually return to driving trucks.maybe even start his own comapny one day.

deputy jason meade was a 17 year veteran of the franklin county sheriff’s departement.in december 2020 ,he was a full-time member of the swat unit.

as a reserve marine in 2005 jason was deployed for a 7 month tour  of duty with Lima company in Iraq.

after several years in the reserves, he was honorably discharged from the US marine corps.

personally jason is known as a man of faith in  family,he has been married  for over 20 years to his high school sweetheart and they have wo children together.

since 2014 jason meade has also been pastor at rosedale free will baptist chuch in the community of Irwin in madison county.

it is has been described by his associate pastor as a little country church with  about 80 congregants.

it seemss that for many years jason meade had merged his religious beliefs with his work and law enforcement.

in a video series produced by the franklin county sheriff’s office in 2018 called connecting with the community, jason spoke of his service to the public as jesus was a servant to god.

in the same year jason spoke at  the convention for Ohio free will baptists,here  he spoke about a story about  david and goliath.and how he was justified in throwing the first punch.

on june 13th,2018 ,shortly before the video was posted by the sheriff’s office deputy mead was among seven officers who fired their weapons during a standoff in Pike county  that ended with two men dead.

in that case deputy meade was part of a SWAT team called to execute a warrant for a 44 year old man  named david arthur.

david was wanted for drug possession and was thought to be armed. he was located at his friends home a man named barry Larry in pike county.

a negotiator tried unsuccessfully to lure david from the home for hours,eventually  the franklin county SWAT team  was called in.

they used a hydraulic ram attached  to one of  two barcat armored vehicles to begin tearing holes in the house.the team spent 2 hours ramming the building in estimated 20 times before finally  seeing no movement inside decided to enter.

the suspect was found on the living room floor sitting with his back against the sofa.

the deputy said that he appeared  uninjured ,those in the room, all stated that he had raised his gun towards them.

then, at least, three swat members opened fire including deputy meade ,striking him in the chest,head and neck.david’s friend larry was later found deceased under the rubble in the livingroom. he had been shot by arthur hours  earlier.

an investigation of the shooting which included at least five detectives from franklin county found non of the shooters to be at fault for david’s death.

however an autopsy on david arthur  found that he was likely dead for hours before the SWAT team even entered the house.

the medical examiner found that a single self- inflicted gunshot to the head delivered roughly 2 hours earlier when shots were heard from their position outside would have been fatal.

nonetheless in the immediate aftermath of the shooting ,the deputies stated that after firing several rounds at david, all the sudden the suspect gasped  for air.

opened his eyes and instantly leveled   his pistol and pointed it directly at deputy meade.

at that point,jason meade and two other deputies-again opened fire.

though it was later determined that it was extremely unlikely that david was alive ,incapable of pointing his weapon  at the deputies.

the investigation reasoned that under the circumstances ,the involved deputies acted appropriately to stop the threat posed by david arthur.

the 2018  incident was not the only   time  that deputy  meade found  himself in hot water due to his actions on  the job.

in 2019 ,a year after the death of david arthur,jason was issued a reprimand for inappropriate use of his taser on a suspect and failure to report using it.

as the deputy’s  history  was slowly uncovered in leaked to the the media the pressure and controversy surrounding casey goodson’s death reached new heights.

in the days weeks and months after the shooting  with an investigation ongoing protesters attended the sunday service at jason meade’s church.

calling the pastor a killer.

the associate pastor paul moore , told them that  they were welcome but not if they were going to be disruptive.

jason meade was nos not giving the sermon that week,concerned for his own safety the deputy was at home.he had lefty his work as well,initialy being released on paid leave and then eventually as the investigation dragged on over several months, taking an early retirement from the sheriff’s office and SWAT.

faced with an officer involved  shooting  and a potential conflict of intererst ,the columbus police had requested that the Ohio bureau of criminal investigation take over the case.

they refused.the BCI released a statement explaining that a full 3 days had passed before the request  was made to them to take over and no explanation had been  provided that would account for this  delay.due to this ambiguity they declined the case.

it was eventually  given to the department of justice,that investigation has been praised.even by casey’s mother Tamila as thourgh and thoughtful.

but the investigative process was a slow one…

as the criminal  case  was built against deputy mead , two special prosecutors both formerly state attorneys were given the task of presenting an indictment.

roughly  one year after the shooting,deputy meade was charged with murder.in december 2021 jason meade was released on a $  250,000 bond.as he waited trial.

the civil suit alleged that jason meade’s behavor and prior documented incidents made him a ticking time  bomb. the lawsuit asserts that franklin county  failed to sufficiently supervise, investigate,discipline  council and or train the deputy.it refers to his views on religion and the use of force,referring to jason as seemingly a religious zealot

and holding viewpoints that county  law enforcement were aware of and that are problematic. in addition ,the lack of training provided to jason in any area outside of firearms is a key point in the filing. year after year 80 to 90 hours of courses were provided to deputy meade covering topics such as active shooters ,marksmanship and rifle pistol training .

but none that focused on ethics.

the last  training on deescalation that jason received was in 2014,when he reported completing the course in under 4 minutes.

another course listed as a full day program stretching from 8:00  a.m  to 4:p.m. entitled,victims with special needs was completed online, in 1 minute and 16 seconds.

jason meade could not be deposed for the civil suit until  after the criminal trial,nonetheless jason’s version of events and the basis of his defense emerged through his lawyer.

the deputy said that  he witnessed  CJ goodman aiming his gun towards another car on the road as the 23 year old waited to take a left through the intersection at Ferris and Carl road on december 4th.

then after making his turn CJ pointed his gun directly at  deputy meade as the vehicles passed  each other.

performing a U -turn the deputy pursued casey back to his  house. once parked on the wrong side,casey ran from meade towards the back of a  house.

at the threshold of the door and with his back still turned,jason said that he raised his  gun at the deputy  once more,upon seeing that threat he fired.

jason meade’s  trial  is early 2024

he faced two counts of murder and one of  reckless homicide and a case  where an officer’s use of force is questionable,the law says that jurors are only meant to evaluate.what that officer knew or could have reasonably believed in making their decision to act.

this effectively means that the reality of the situation whether casey goodson intended to evade arrest,shoot another driver or fire his gun at the deputy is second to what jason meade perceived was likely  at the time.

sharon  payne told the jury that casey often carried his handgun with him.he held it in a holster in the front of his waistband,this was an uncomfortable location when driving,she assumed.

and so , she observed that when casey drove  her anywhere,he would remove the gun and place it in the front center console of the car.

jason’s defense team presented a photo of CJ posed with his handgun pointing it at the camera.it was taken in the driver’s seat of the Nissan.

jason meade took the stand, to tell his version of events that day.jason had previously signed a statement,which alleged that CJ had tracked another vehicle through the intersection with a gun,pointing at the car while he waited to make his turn.

once  confronted with the video,which  it showed casey making a continuous left turn without pausing, the deputy altered this testimony.

he said  instead that CJ was pointing the gun around erratically.he pointed it at another vehicle after completing his turn.

there was  some confusion as to how far away the deputy was standing from casey on a state’s place when they looked at each other as jason testified.at first  he estimated it was maybe two houses away,later he said  it could have been closer to six house lengths between  them.

prosecutors also grilled jason over  the alternative steps that he could have taken to identify himself,particularly given the fact that CJ was found with airpods in his ears when he died.

was it possible that he was unaware that the deputy was there and yelling commands at him.

that CJ parked improperly was suspicious to deputy meade. family members testify that due to a fire  hydrant on the other side of the street,they had parked on the other opposite side for years,without issue.

similarly the front  door was slightly broken,so they never used it,prefering the side entrance as their regular way in and out of the house.

of course,there was no way that deputy meade could have known these facts.

after both the state and the defense closed their case the trial had an unusual development, the prosecution asked to call upon a newly discovered surprise witness.

this witnes ,a man named chrisopher korn worked  in heating and cooling.he was watching the coverage of the trial at home on the local news, when he realized that the video of the intersection showed his van.

on december 4th  the HVAC employee was on his lunch break between jobs.  he recalled the events of the day  clearly.

in the video of the US marshall’s trucks approching the intersection, a white work van drives past estate’s place where officer ryan rosser waited to pull out.

the van then takes a  position behind jason meade’s truck when they reach the red light. rosser then makes his turn and is directly behind christopher in the white van.

christopher’s position in that left  turning lane as well as th height of his  van gave him a view directly into CJ’s car at the exact time that the deputy alleged that he was aiming his gun around at traffic.

christopher took the stand for the prosecution.he testified  that the only thing  that concerned him about passing casey goodson on the road that day,was his driving. he did not see a gun.

christopher’s testimony was called into question by the defense attorneys, not only had he waited years to come forward but he had  also watched portion of the trial on the news before testifying, something  that could influence his recollection of the day.

it turns out that christopher had also not reached out to the special prosecutors or law enforcement in an appropriate unbiase way.

he had first attempte to contact Tamala payne  directly,friending her on facebook and sending a private message.

when she did  not respond,he contacted mr walton , their family attorney.christopher testified that neither responded to him but that after writing to mr walton,he heard directly from the  special prosecutors.

this cannot be verified however, because only 2 days  after coming forward his name was leaked to the press,christopher find himself overwhelmed  with messages on facebook and so he deleted his entire account.

what messages were sent or exchanged about his testimony is therefore unclear.

to jason meade’s defens team these actions were suspicious and worthy of discrediting him as a witness.

the trial went over the estimated time allotted for witness testimony.

lasting 11 full days over 3 weeks,the jury heard from  over  20 witnesses,three times after  deliberations began the jury was required to restart  after the judge dismissed a juror an replaced them with an alternate in an exceptional move that is rarely necessary all four alternate jurors were eventually  used.as others were dismised for undisclosed reasons. at one point the judge declared a mistrial after the jury continued to pose questions that demonstrated confusion over how to apply the law.

they  queried whether jason meade  could be justified  in using force on one count of murder but not another,which the judge deemed illogical .

if the deputy was found to be justified in firing his weapon he must be found not guilty on all charges.after speaking with prosecutors and defense,judge young reversed  the mistrial only only minutes after  he declared it.

and  instead ordered the jury to continue deliberations,they did so,but it was hopeless.they could not reach an   agreement.

journalists in the courtroom reported that jurors returned with tears in their   eyes , many agonizing over the decision and frustrated that they could not reach a verdict.

jason did not  make a statement following the mistrial, his attorney  stated only that he was extremely appreciative of the hard work  done by the jury who did exactly what  was required of them.they had tried their best.

the civil lawsuit is still pending and will now move forward,the special prosecutors have also stated their  intention to retry the deputy for murder.

as of publication,the retrial  is set to begin on october 31st 2024.

jury and testimony is  scheduled  to start november 4th.

Jury selection was set to begin on Oct. 31, but has now been pushed back to Feb. 27, 2025.

Casey Goodson’s Family Settles Civil Claim for $7M Over Fatal Police Shooting. Their focus now shifts to the murder trial of the former Franklin County, Ohio, officer who shot the 23-year-old five times in the back.

ormer Franklin County deputy Jason Meade retrial date set

Updated Wed, May 21st 2025 

Columbus, Ohio (WSYX) — Former Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade made an appearance in court on Wednesday, where a retrial date was set.

Jury selection is set for Dec. 5 with opening statements likely by Dec. 8.