COLUMBUS — The former firearms instructor charged in the shooting death of an Ohio corrections officer during a training exercise earlier this year has pleaded guilty.
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Davis Pearson appeared in Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas where he changed his initial plea of not guilty, our news partners at WBNS-10 TV reported.
He pleaded guilty to negligent homicide on Monday and faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a &1,000 fine.
A date for his sentencing has not been scheduled.
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Pearson was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide in the shooting death of Lt. Rodney Osborne on April 9.
Osborne’s family was in the courtroom Monday, and one member told WBNS-10 TV that the family was waiting to see what happened at the sentencing.
Pickaway County Prosecutor Judy Wolford said this was a case unlike any other that she’s experienced in her time practicing law.
“It’s not a run of the mill case. It’s a tragic, tragic event. I hope his guilty plea will help the family in their grief,” Wolford said. “It weighs on my whole office. It’s a difficult case. We have a death that never should have happened and here we are.”
Osborne was shot during a training exercise at the Corrections Training Academy in Pickaway County. He was struck just above his bulletproof vest, according to an autopsy report.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was investigating his death as a reckless homicide.
Documents provided to WBNS-10 TV by the attorney of Osborne’s widow show that Osborne, along with 14 others, was taking part in a 40-hour training exercise for the Special Tactics and Response Team at the Corrections Training Academy in Orient. It was being led by Pearson and five other S.T.A.R instructors.
In a statement to his attorney, Pearson said he noticed that Lt. Osborne was struggling to draw his pistol from his holster during one of the exercises and get it leveled on the target.
He then stepped in front of Osborne to do what he called a “mirror drill”, where he instructed Osborne to mirror his actions while the two were standing face to face.
Both Pearson and Osborne drew their pistols. When Pearson pulled the trigger, his pistol went off and the round hit Osborne in the chest, documents say.
OSHP officials said that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s policies and procedures do not reference a “mirror drill,” but there are some instances where someone can point a firearm at another person if certain conditions are met.
“Prior to the shooting, Mr. Pearson’s actions did not meet the specific conditions required by ODRC policy and procedure to point his firearm at Mr. Osborne,” the report read.
The ODRC fired Pearson in August. Osborne worked with the ODRC for 13 years and worked at the Southern Ohio Corrections Facility in Scioto County, according to Director Annette Chambers-Smith.
Osborne was recently named employee of the year at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility where he was the commander of the Special Response Team.
When asked with any policies have been changed as a result of April’s incident, an ODRC spokesperson responded with “ODRC proactively engaged with the National Tactical Officers Association to request that they conduct an independent, third-party comprehensive review of the agency’s weapons training and handling policies. The three-person team began their work in September.”
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