COLUMBUS, Ohio — The guilty verdict against former Columbus police Adam Coy comes about nine months after a mistrial was declared in the murder trial of former Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade.
The mistrial was for a hung jury. Both shootings occurred just a couple of weeks apart from each other in December 2020.
Meade is charged with murder in the Dec. 4, 2020, murder of Casey Goodson Jr.
Tamala Payne, Goodson Jr.’s mother, said she’s relieved to be seeing accountability for the actions of police officers and that Coy’s guilty verdict gives her hope.
"It's always a shock when you see someone actually finds a police officer guilty,” Payne said.
It’s been nearly four years since Payne’s son was shot and killed by Meade. The incident happened just over two weeks before Andre Hill was shot and killed by Coy.
Payne said Monday’s guilty verdict gives her faith that justice will be served in her son’s case.
"You cannot take a life for no reason because it was a mistake or what you perceived,” Payne said.
Sean Walton, the Goodson family’s attorney, said this is only the beginning as they continue to work toward police reform.
"Right now, we have four officers on trial for murder and so we have one down and we're looking for three more convictions here because that's how we stop this,” he said.
Walton said there's a pattern of officers using the same defense in cases like this. They had to make a split-second decision when they were afraid for their own life.
"They're doing that because they understand the law, and how to explain away their actions in order to not be held accountable by the law,” Walton said.
Aside from Coy. no Columbus police officer has been found guilty of murder charges for an on-duty related shooting in recent history.
When asked about the impact this could have on the Jason Meade case, Coy's attorney Mark Collins — who is also representing Meade — said every case is unique and different.
"In this situation, you have someone who's unarmed and there's no weapon. In the Jason Meade case, Mr. Goodson had a weapon and was showing it at the scene,” Collins said.
Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said he’s concerned about the precedent this verdict sends moving forward.
"That will have ripple effects through the law enforcement community, not just here in Columbus, but in the state and the greater nation. There is no doubt about that,” he said.
Steel said the job of a police officer comes down to making split-second decisions under immense stress, and Coy was dealing with an individual who was not complying.
"Murder? We are going down a path. This sent a message to every officer in this county that your split-second decision could now lead to murder. It is absolutely insane,” he said.
But Walton said he believes the time for change and reform in policing is now.
"I think we're at a point, a juncture in this city where we have four officers on trial for murder. After these four murder convictions we'll see a huge change in the culture and policing here,” Walton said.
The next trial against Meade is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27.