An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday in the fatal shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant woman accused of shoplifting from a grocery store in suburban Columbus.
Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb is facing charges including murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. His indictment comes just less than a year after the deadly encounter, which unfolded outside a local Kroger on Aug. 24, 2023.
Officers were initially called to the parking lot to help a driver who was locked out of their car, police said at the time. But when they arrived on the scene around 6:45 p.m., authorities were met by a store employee who told them told them Young had just stolen several bottles of liquor.
Bodycam footage released in the wake of the incident shows a pair of officers approach Young, already inside her vehicle at the time, and ask her about the shoplifting allegations. Young denies them and repeatedly refuses officers’ orders to exit her vehicle. At one point she even asks them, “Are you going to shoot me?”
Seconds later, Young can then be seen turning her steering wheel to the right and the car moves toward one of the officers, who in turn fires his gun through the windshield. The sedan continued moving for about 50 feet before stopping on the sidewalk outside the grocery store.
The officers then forced entry into the vehicle and attempted to save Young’s life, but to no avail. Young was rushed to Mount Carmel St. Ann’s, where she was pronounced dead. The child she was carrying, a daughter due in November, also did not survive.
Sean Walton, the family’s attorney, said the law is clear on when an officer can use deadly force.
“In no scenario does someone shoplifting contribute to their murder by a police officer,” he said. “She bears no responsibility.”
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has started a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been indicted. He has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.
The other responding officer was also initially placed on administrative leave but returned to duty following a review of the bodycam footage.
“Like all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar for those who protect our communities,” said Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township Police.
With News Wire Services
