COLUMBUS (AP) — The new watchdog for police in Columbus will investigate three recent police shootings, including the killing of a man shot in his bed.
The probes by Inspector General Jacqueline Hendricks follows a vote by the Columbus Civilian Police Review Board on Tuesday directing Hendricks’ office to look into the shootings, including the Aug. 30 death of Donovan Lewis, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Lewis, 20, was shot less than a second after Columbus officer Ricky Anderson opened the door of the bedroom where Lewis was sleeping. An attorney representing Lewis has called the shooting reckless and senseless. Officers were at the apartment trying to arrest Lewis on multiple warrants.
Hendricks’ office will also investigate the Aug. 24 nonfatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy and an Aug. 22 incident when a Columbus officer fired at — but did not hit — two fleeing suspects. The reviews will start after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation completes its examination of the first two shootings. The state declined to investigate the Aug. 22 incident.
Hendricks will determine whether to recommend that administrative misconduct charges be filed against officers involved in the shootings. The civilian review board has the final say on whether those recommendations are forwarded to the Columbus public safety director or police chief for review and possible disciplinary action.
Hendricks says her office has opened 50 investigations into complaints of alleged misconduct by Columbus police, including 10 alleged cases of excessive force, in the new office’s first two months, the Dispatch reported.
Casey Goodson’s family wants suit against deputy to proceed
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The family of a Black man shot by an Ohio sheriff’s deputy asked a federal court on Wednesday to stop delaying their wrongful death lawsuit against the deputy.
Authorities say Casey Goodson Jr., 23, was shot in the back as he entered his grandmother’s house in late 2020. Deputy Jason Meade, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to murder and reckless homicide in the shooting.
Meade’s attorney says Goodson pointed a gun and ignored a command to drop it. Goodson’s family notes he was licensed to carry a gun, but says he was holding a bag of sandwiches at the time.
A federal judge paused the civil rights lawsuit against Meade and Franklin County until after the criminal case. The officer had argued that simultaneously defending himself in both cases would put him in a no-win situation.
With the criminal trial pushed back repeatedly, the delays are prejudicing the family’s civil case as their lawyers wait to continue the process of investigating facts, evidence and potential witnesses, said Sean Walton, an attorney for Goodson’s family. At least one person with relevant information about the day of the shooting has died, Walton said.
Franklin County’s prosecutor and board of commissioners said Wednesday they aren’t commenting on the pending cases.
At a press conference Wednesday, Walton also disclosed that Goodson’s family found his AirPods wireless headphones at the scene after other evidence had been collected and gave them to authorities. He said the family believes it’s likely Goodson was wearing the headphones and listening to music that day, and couldn’t hear any shouted commands from the officer.
Walton said the delay in the civil case has kept their attorneys from learning more about whether the evidence gathered, including Goodson’s smartphone, might provide further information about that.