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COLUMBUS, Ohio — <\/span>A former sheriff’s deputy was found guilty of reckless homicide at trial Thursday for shooting a Black man who was bringing sandwiches<\/a> to his grandmother’s house. <\/p>\n The killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by Jason Meade in December 2020 had provoked outrage in Ohio.<\/p>\n Trial jurors said they couldn’t agree on the more serious charge of murder, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial on that count.<\/p>\n Meade, who is white, said his shooting of Goodson \u2014 five times in the back and once in the side \u2014 was justified because he saw the 23-year-old holding a gun and turning toward him in the doorway of the house in Columbus. But no one else testified they saw Goodson holding the gun he was licensed to carry, and no cameras recorded the shooting. <\/p>\n This was Meade’s second murder trial after the first one ended in a mistrial two years ago. He is now the second white law enforcement officer to be convicted in the killing of a Black man in the state since the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota sparked national protests.<\/p>\n Tamala Payne, Goodson’s mother, said the guilty verdict gives her family closure and peace. <\/p>\n \u201cI know now Casey can rest. You know, we\u2019ve been fighting for five and a half years, and Casey sees his family fighting. He knows the stress. He knows the pain. He knows the heartache,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now, not only can we try to find peace and finally start truly grieving, my baby can rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Meade had testified in the first trial that he pursued Goodson after the man waved a gun at him as they passed each other in their vehicles. According to his family and prosecutors, Goodson was holding a bag of Subway sandwiches in one hand and his keys in the other, and was listening to music through earbuds when he was killed.<\/p>\n Meade did not take the stand at his second trial. <\/p>\n Prosecutors also said the evidence suggests the gun wasn’t in his hands, but in a flimsy holder under his belt. They added it was found under his body, its safety mechanism still engaged, as Goodson laid mortally wounded on the kitchen floor of his grandmother’s house. <\/p>\n Meade, now 47, retired from the Franklin County Sheriff\u2019s Department in 2021. He\u2019s also a Baptist pastor. His attorney cited Meade\u2019s oral and written accounts of what happened<\/a>, and said the shooting was justified.<\/p>\n Ohio law defines murder as the purposeful causing of a death, while the lesser charge of reckless murder means the defendant acted recklessly in causing a death. The former is punishable by up to life in prison, while the latter carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.<\/p>\n Judge David Young set sentencing for July 16. <\/p>\n Prosecutors said they were pleased with the guilty verdict on the reckless homicide charge and haven’t decided yet whether to pursue a third trial on the murder charge \u2014 something Payne said she would like to see happen.<\/p>\n Defense attorneys Mark Collins and Kaitlyn Stephens did not address the media afterward.<\/p>\n Following the verdict, Brian Steel, president and chief executive of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said he respects the jury but was \u201cdisappointed\u201d with the decision. He said he hopes the prosecutor’s office does not seek a retrial on the murder charge.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was long six years drawn out. This is the second trial. I hope they\u2019re for the sake of not only the Meade family, the Goodson family and the community, I hope we don\u2019t try to do a third trial on this murder charge,\u201d Steel said. <\/p>\n Christopher Corne was driving nearby that day and testified for the prosecution<\/a> at both trials. He said Goodson seemed to be dancing and singing in his truck shortly before the shooting. He also testified during the first trial that he did not see a gun in Goodson\u2019s hand. <\/p>\n Columbus police Officer Samuel Rippey testified at the second trial that while he was administering emergency treatment to Goodson, he saw the gun, with an extended magazine, lying on the floor. <\/p>\n Goodson\u2019s death provoked public outrage in Ohio as the killings of Black people by white officers increased demands for police reform following the killing of Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n Banners were hung from highway overpasses in Columbus, carrying messages such as \u201cJustice for Casey Goodson Jr.\u201d and \u201cConvict Murderer Meade.\u201d The judge ordered the banners taken down during the trial.<\/p>\n Previous Ohio prosecutions in such cases led to only one conviction \u2014 that of Columbus police officer Adam Coy<\/a>, who was indicted on charges including murder in the 2020 killing of Andre Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n