An Ohio officer who shot and killed a pregnant Black mother in a supermarket parking lot after she was accused of shoplifting has been acquitted of all charges, including murder, after multiple days of deliberation.
Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb could have faced up to life in prison for the shooting death of Ta'Kiya Young. A federal lawsuit filed against the police chief alleges that Grubb was not was not trained or supervised properly and "recklessly escalated" his response to the situation.
Grubb and Moynihan had approached Young's parked car on Aug. 24, 2023, about a report that she was suspected of stealing alcohol from a Kroger store in the Columbus suburb. She partially lowered her window and protested as both officers cursed at her and yelled at her to get out. Bodycam video showed Grubb had his left hand on the car's hood while pointing his gun at her with his right. Young could be heard asking them, "Are you going to shoot me?"
Then, she put on a turn signal and her car rolled slowly forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet into her chest, the recording showed.
Moments later, after the car came to a stop against the building, they broke the driver's side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded. Young and her unborn daughter were pronounced dead at a hospital.
Grubb had pleaded not guilty to murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. A full-time officer with the township since 2019, he was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.
Jurors were shown the body cam video and heard expert testimony during the two-week trial. They heard from Sgt. Erick Moynihan, the officer who with Grubb had ordered Young out of her car. Grubb attended the trial but did not testify. He submitted a statement read into the record by a special agent for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
This image from bodycam video released by the Blendon Township Police on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, shows a bullet hole in the windshield of a car with Ta'Kiya Young inside after she was shot by a police officer outside a grocery store in Blendon Township, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, on Aug. 24. The pregnant Black mother was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting. Her unborn daughter did not survive. The image was pixelated by the source.
/ AP
In the statement, Grubb said he had positioned himself in front of Young's vehicle to provide backup and to protect other people in the parking lot. He said he drew his gun after he heard Young fail to comply with Moynihan's commands. When her car moved toward him, he said, he felt the vehicle hit his legs and shins and begin to lift his body off the ground as he shot.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young, no relation to Ta'Kiya, dropped four of 10 counts relating to the death of Young's unborn daughter, agreeing with defense attorneys that prosecutors failed to present proof that Grubb knew Young was pregnant when he shot her.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
