ORIENT, Ohio (WCMH) – An Ohio corrections officer charged with negligent homicide changed his plea in court Monday morning.
Appearing in a Pickaway County Courthouse, 45-year-old David Pearson, who was charged in the death of Lt. Rodney Osborne in April, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and now awaits sentencing.
Osborne was fatally shot just before 11 :30 a.m. on April 9 at the Corrections Training Academy in Pickaway County’s tactical firing range, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections director Annette Chambers-Smith.
The incident report stated that deputies responded to reports of a trainee suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Medics arrived at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Training Academy in Orient, where Osborne was receiving emergency care on scene from fellow trainees. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An Ohio State Highway Patrol incident report revealed that the fatal shooting was being investigated as a reckless homicide. While the report had not revealed who was being charged, a statement from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections noted that Pearson, a west regional special operations commander, was placed on administrative leave beginning on April 10.
Pearson, who began his tenure with the Warren Correctional Institution in 2005 and served in his current role since 2021, was formally charged in July and was fired in August.
At the time of the incident Chambers Smith said, “This appears to have been a tragic accident, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating.”
In late May, Osborne’s family announced that they had hired a lawyer, Mark Kitrick, the president of Kitrick Lewis and Harris Law Firm.
Osborne had served with the department for 13 years and worked at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Scioto County. He was also part of the facility’s honor guard, had been named employee of the year earlier that month, and was a member of the special response team and the statewide special tactics and response team.
Osborne’s family was present in court Monday when Pearson changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. Prosecuting attorneys are asking for the maximum sentence, six months in prison, though a sentencing date has yet to be determined.
