Former state prison firearms instructor David Pearson pleaded guilty to negligent homicide on Monday in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court in connection to a fatal shooting at a state training facility.
Pickaway County Prosecutor Judy Wolford said her office is requesting the maximum sentence, which is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine in the misdemeanor case.
“It’s a difficult case. We have a death that never have happened, and yet, here we are,” Wolford said.
Pearson shot Lt. Rodney Osborne, 43, in the chest during a firearms training Pearson was leading, according to an investigative report by the patrol. Pearson failed to empty his gun for a “dry” training exercise, meaning there were supposed to be no live rounds, according to the report. The shooting happened on April 9 at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction training facility in Pickaway County.
While students had emptied their weapons of ammunition and double-checked one another’s firearms, Pearson did not. Pearson told investigators he thought his gun was clear.
Before the shooting, Pearson briefed students on firearms safety, including one of the “cardinal” rules: never point a weapon at something you don’t intend to destroy, according to the patrol investigation.
Members of the Osborne family, who attended the plea hearing, said the fatal shooting never should have happened. They declined further comment.
Pearson gave short answers to Pickaway County Judge P. Randall Knece’s questions during the plea hearing. He left the court without making a comment.
Knece ordered a pre-sentence investigation report, which is expected to be completed in a few weeks.
Laura A. Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio prison firearms instructor pleads guilty in shooting death