Johnathan Walker:Deliberations start again in murder trial of former Ohio deputy after juror dismissed

COLUMBUS,Johnathan Walker Ohio (AP) — Deliberations started over again with a replacement juror Thursday in the murder trial of a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy accused of pursuing a motorist and killing the man at his family’s home.

The panel had deliberated for more than three hours Wednesday before a male juror was dismissed and replaced by an alternate, also male. Court officials didn’t say why.

Jason Meade, who is white, is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the December 2020 killing in Columbus of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., who was Black.

Meade said during his testimony that he pursued Goodson because he feared for his life and the lives of others after he waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other. He said he then shot Goodson in the doorway of his grandmother’s home because Goodson turned to lift the gun toward him.

Meade, who is a pastor at a Baptist church, shot Goodson six times, including five times in the back, police have said.

There is no bodycam video of the shooting, and prosecutors repeatedly asserted that Meade is the only person who testified Goodson was holding a gun.

Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said he was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other when he was fatally shot. They do not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun, but note that he had a license to carry a firearm.

Goodson’s weapon was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged.