Ohio police officer indicted in fatal shooting of pregnant Black woman accused of shoplifting
An Ohio police officer appeared in court Wednesday facing multiple charges, including murder, in the shooting of Ta'Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother killed by police in a grocery store parking lot last August.
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb on Tuesday on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. Grubb turned himself in to authorities, and on Wednesday he wore a jail uniform as he appeared in court via video from behind bars. A magistrate set the officer's bond at $250,000, which was posted soon after the hearing, according to court records.
Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Grubb and a fellow officer approached her car. The other officer ordered her out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest.
According to CBS affiliate WBNS-TV, Young was at least 25 weeks pregnant at the time of the shooting. The daughter she was expecting that November also died.
The state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation completed its investigation into the shooting last December before a special prosecutor was appointed to oversee the case. The prosecutor then presented evidence to the grand jury over two days. Grand juries don't consider guilt but instead look at whether there's enough evidence to proceed to a trial.
Grubb's attorneys said they expected their client to be indicted and defended his actions.
"When viewed through the eyes of a reasonable police officer, the evidence will show that our client's actions were justified, when there is video evidence that Officer Grubb was being hit by a moving vehicle," attorneys Mark Collins and Kaitlyn Stephens said in a statement Tuesday.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said in a video posted to Facebook that disciplinary proceedings against Grubb would begin immediately, noting that people under indictment can't legally possess firearms. Belford said the town wasn't involved in the outside investigation into the shooting.
"I want to be very clear: We're not passing any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted properly. We haven't seen the evidence," Belford said.
A full-time officer with the township since 2019, Grubb has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. Records show he has not been a licensed officer anywhere else in Ohio.
Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township police, called the indictment deeply disappointing. "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," he said in a statement.
Young's grandmother, Nadine Young, said the officer never should have pulled his gun when he first confronted her.
"He took a lot from us," she said on Tuesday. "It's not fair. We don't have her or the baby."
The last year has been difficult for the family, including her granddaughter's two young sons, she said. "It's been agony, it's been like a whirlwind of hurt and pain," she said.
Young's family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After viewing bodycam footage showing the officer firing the gun, the family called his actions a "gross misuse of power and authority," especially given that Young had been accused of a relatively minor crime.
In the video, an officer at the driver's side window tells Young she's been accused of shoplifting and orders her out of the car. Young protests, both officers curse at her and yell at her to get out, and Young can be heard asking them, "Are you going to shoot me?"
Seconds later, she turns the steering wheel to the right, the car rolls slowly forward and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, after the car comes to a stop against the building, they break the driver's side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded.
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."
Some departments around the U.S. prohibit officers from firing at or from moving vehicles, and law enforcement groups such as the Police Executive Research Forum say shooting in such circumstances creates an unacceptable risk to bystanders from stray gunfire or the driver losing control of the vehicle.
The Blendon Township police department's use of force policy says officers should try to move away from an approaching vehicle instead of firing their weapons. An officer should only shoot when he or she "reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available to avert the imminent threat of the vehicle, or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed at the officer or others."
The encounter between Young and police was among a troubling series of fatal shootings of Black adults and children by Ohio officers, and followed various episodes of police brutality against Black people across the nation over the past several years.