Ohio prisons officer arraigned on charge in fellow officer's death at training

An Ohio prison system firearms instructor made his first appearance Wednesday in a Pickaway County court in connection with the fatal shooting of a prison lieutenant at an April training session.

David Pearson, 44, of West Chester Township in Butler County, pleaded not guilty through his attorney at his brief arraignment on a negligent homicide charge in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court. A county grand jury last month indicted Pearson , a special operations commander, in the April 9 death of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Lt. Rodney Osborne, 43, of Sciotodale, during a firearms training exercise.

Common Pleas Judge P. Randall Knece read the charge and released Pearson on a recognizance bond. Pearson faces up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, if convicted.

Related article: 'His heart was huge:' family recalls lieutenant fatally shot at Ohio prison training facility

Knece set Pearson's next court date, a pretrial hearing, for Sept. 13.

Osborne's wife, Bobbie, previously told The Dispatch she is outraged by the grand jury's decision not to indict Pearson on more serious charges.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the shooting as a reckless homicide, according to records previously reported on by The Dispatch. Reckless homicide, a third-degree felony, could carry up to five years in prison.

Pearson and his attorney, Kevin Lennen, declined to speak to reporters after the hearing.

Osborne suffered a single gunshot wound to the upper chest in April while training at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Orient, according to autopsy photos reviewed by The Dispatch.

Colleagues performed CPR on Osborne and, instead of waiting for an ambulance, took him in the back of a pickup to Mount Carmel Grove City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The ODRC placed Pearson on administrative leave immediately after the shooting.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio prisons officer arraigned on charge in fellow officer's death at training