Murder retrial begins in deputy's killing of a Black man entering his grandmother's Ohio home

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Opening statements began Thursday in the retrial of a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide for killing a Black man who was shot multiple times in the back while entering his grandmother’s house.

The shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. by former Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade, who is white, led to protests in Columbus and lingering questions, in part because the sheriff’s office didn’t equip its deputies with body cameras or dash cameras.

Meade faced the same charges at his first trial. The judge in that case declared a mistrial in 2024 after the jury couldn't agree on a verdict.

Attorney Howard Merkle, a special prosecutor for the case, recounted events that he said led up to the shooting, and urged jurors to consider the evidence he said proves Meade’s use of force was unreasonable.

“The evidence will show that on December 4, 2020, the defendant shot Casey Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him,” he said.

“At the time, Casey had entered his house, was carrying a bag of Subways and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods,” Merkle said.

Meade testified in the first trial that Goodson waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other and that he pursued Goodson because he feared for his life and the lives of others. He said he eventually fired as Goodson entered his grandmother’s home because the 23-year-old man turned toward him with a gun.

Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens said the now-retired deputy feared for his life in the confrontation with Goodson, and said officers do “not have to wait to be shot at in order to protect themselves.”

“The evidence will show that Jason Meade was justified, a justified tragedy,” she said.

Meade had been searching unsuccessfully for a fugitive that day as part of his work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search, and the Marshals have said Meade wasn’t performing a mission for them at the time.

Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other, having unlocked the front door, when he was fatally shot. They did not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun, which he had a license to carry, but prosecutors have noted that Meade has been the only person to testify that Goodson was holding a gun.

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

Jurors in the previous trial deadlocked after one was dismissed during testimony and replaced by an alternate and three others were dismissed and replaced during deliberations, forcing the panel to restart deliberations multiple times. Court officials did not say why the jurors were removed.

Common Pleas Court Judge David Young listens to opening statements in retrial of former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Jason Meade on April 23, 2026. in Columbus, Ohio. (Doral Chenoweth/Pool Photo via AP)

Attorney Kaitlyn Stephens speaks during the defense's opening statements in the retrial of former Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade, who is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the 2020 killing of Casey Goodson Jr., inside Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Doral Chenoweth/Pool Photo via AP)

Attorney Howard Merkle, representing the state of Ohio, speaks to the jury during opening statements in the retrial of former Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade, who is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the 2020 killing of Casey Goodson Jr., inside Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Doral Chenoweth/Pool Photo via AP)

The mother of Casey Goodson Jr., Tamala Payne, covers her ears during opening statements in the retrial offormer Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade, who is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the 2020 killing of Goodson Jr., inside Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Doral Chenoweth/Pool Photo via AP)

Jason Meade, center, sits with his attorneys Mark Collins, left, and Kaitlyn Stephens, right, during opening statements in the retrial of the former Ohio sheriff's deputy charged with murder and reckless homicide in the 2020 killing of Casey Goodson Jr., inside Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Doral Chenoweth/Pool photo via AP)

Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday.

Trump says the meeting between Israel’s and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States went “very well.” The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries since last week.

The initial 10-day ceasefire, which took effect last Friday, had been due to expire Monday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Washington (AP) — Lebanon and Israel were set to begin a second session of direct talks at the White House on Thursday to discuss the possibility of extending a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and plans for future negotiations between the two neighbors with a long history of hostile relations.

A U.S. official said President Donald Trump plans to greet Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter on their arrival for the meeting, which is the second between the two diplomats, days after they held the first such direct talks between the two countries in three decades. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration planning.

The U.S. will be represented in the talks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department Counsellor Michael Needham, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, according to the State Department. Huckabee did not participate in the first round.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that Hamadeh will put forward an extension of the 10-day ceasefire that went into effect last Friday. She also will ask for an end to Israeli home demolitions in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war broke out on March 2, Aoun said in comments released by his office.

Preparations are being made for wider-reaching negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The aim of the future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the reconstruction process, Aoun said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said during Independence Day remarks to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps in which he also described the neighboring country as a “failed state.”

“The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.”

The latest war started when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion in which it captured dozens of towns and villages along the border.

Israel’s military currently occupies a buffer zone stretching as much as 10 kilometers (6 miles) into southern Lebanon. Israel says it aims to remove the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles being fired toward northern Israel.

Hezbollah has rejected the talks. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that it will not abide by any agreements made during the direct talks.

Despite this, the talks are a major step for two countries with no diplomatic relations that officially have been at war since Israel’s inception in 1948.

The Lebanese government hopes the talks will pave the way to a permanent end to the war. While Iran has set ending the wars in Lebanon and the region as a condition for talks with the U.S., Lebanon insists on representing itself.

Since the ceasefire went into effect last week, there have been multiple violations by both side sides.

On Wednesday, Amal Khalil, a well-known Lebanese journalist covering southern Lebanon, was killed by an Israeli strike. Lebanese health officials said the Israeli military opened fire on an ambulance that responded to the scene, preventing rescuers from reaching her. Her body was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building several hours later.

The Israeli military denied that it had deliberately targeted journalists or fired on rescuers, but the case sparked widespread anger in Lebanon ahead of the Washington talks.

After a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said the government is working on a report documenting alleged war crimes by Israel and that ministers had discussed joining the International Criminal Court.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war has killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and displaced over 1 million people.

Last week’s talks were the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Both countries have relied on indirect communication, often brokered by the U.S. or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets toward Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, quickly proposed direct talks in a bid to stop the escalation, hoping Israel would not launch its ground invasion.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.

Mourners hold posters that show portraits of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike, during her funeral procession in the village of Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, and Vice President JD Vance listen in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at the White House, Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at the West Wing of White House in Washington, Thursday April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during diplomatic talks with ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)