Officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman

This still 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 video was pixelated by the source. (Blendon Township Police via AP, File)

An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on murder and other charges in the shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August.

Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor 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. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the death of Young and her baby. He is scheduled to be arraigned in court Wednesday. A warrant for his arrest was issued as part of the indictment.

Brian Steel, 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.

This undated image provided by the law firm of Walton+ Brown, LLP, shows Ta’Kiya Young. (Walton+ Brown, LLP via AP)

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. “Its 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.

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?”

This still image from bodycam video released by the Blendon Township Police on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, shows an officer pointing his gun at Ta’Kiya Young moments before shooting her through the windshield outside a grocery store in Blendon Township, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, on Aug. 24. The video was pixelated by the source. (Blendon Township Police via AP, File)

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.”

Attorney Sean Walton and Ta’Kiya Young’s grandmother Nadine Young react after an Ohio police officer was indicted on charges including murder in the shooting of Ta’Kiya Young on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora Orsagos)

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.

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.

Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has started a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been indicted. A full-time officer with the township since 2019, Grubb has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. His personnel file showed he had no disciplinary history on the job, his first as a police officer.

“No one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law,” the police chief said in a statement. “However, since people who’ve been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process.”