The preliminary autopsy carried out by the Ohio County coroner has ruled the cause of Casey Goodson’s death to be a homicide. That simply means that Goodson, a 23-year-old black man, had been killed by another person, though it doesn’t necessarily mean that there had been an evil intention behind the death. The postmortem medical examination argued that Goodson had died from gunshot wounds to his torso.
Goodson had been shot dead in front of his grandmother’s home last week Friday. According to the Columbus Division of Police, Jason Meade, a local county deputy fatally shot Goodson. The department also stated that the deputy had been in the neighborhood as a part of a US Marshals Task Force that handles violent offenses. The department also reported that Goodson allegedly waved his gun at Meade and when Meade asked him to drop the firearm, he refused to do so.
“The autopsy and postmortem medical investigation revealed that the manner of death is homicide,” the county coroner’s office report stated. “The cause of death is still preliminary as the coroner’s office awaits medical records and toxicology report, but the initial finding is that the deceased suffered multiple gunshot injuries to the torso.”
The office also stated that it would have a final report in about 14 weeks. Goodson’s shooting has been a hotly debated issue for the past few days, with many people calling for the arrest of the deputy involved in the shooting.
The Columbus Division of Police stated that Meade had been on an operation following reports of a shooting when he saw Goodson waving a firearm in his car. The deputy claimed that he asked Goodson to drop the gun, but he refused. When he got out of the car, Meade opened fire on the 23-year-old.
“The deputy had seen a gun, and he was investigating the situation which resulted in the shooting of Goodson,” the division stated. “There are reports that words were exchanged between the two parties before the deputy fired, and a gun was taken from Mr. Goodson.”
The lawyers representing the Goodson family countered the division’s statement stating that the agency refused to add important details that led to the death of Goodson. The attorneys explained that Goodson had been on his way home from his dentist and was already at the door of his home when he was killed. The lawyers stated that he had unlocked the door already and that his grandmother and two young members of the family had witnessed the shooting.
At the time of his death, the lawyers explained, Goodson had with him a bag of food which he had bought at the subway for his family. They added that Goodson had not broken any law in Ohio for carrying a firearm and that there was no just cause for him to have been confronted in the first place since he was not even the offender that the deputy was searching for.
The Columbus Division of Police stated that Meade did not have a body camera at the time of the incident since task force officers do not get body cameras.
Source: thehill.com
