COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer was charged Tuesday with murder and other counts in connection with the shooting of Ta’Kiya Younga 21-year-old pregnant black mother who was killed last August after being accused of shoplifting.
Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb and a colleague approached her car. The other officer ordered her to get out. Instead, she continued to drive toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chestThe daughter she was expecting three months later also died.
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault in connection with the deaths of Young and her baby. He is scheduled to go to trial Wednesday. A warrant has been issued for his arrest as part of the indictment.
Brian Steel, president of the Blendon Township police union, called the charges deeply disappointing. “Like all police officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar to those who protect our communities,” he said in a statement.
Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, said the officer should never have drawn his gun when he first confronted her.
“He took a lot from us,” she said 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 was torture, it was like a whirlwind of pain and suffering,” she said.
Family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the shooting on August 24. After viewing Bodycam recordings The family called Young’s actions a “gross abuse of power and authority,” especially given that Young was accused of a relatively minor crime. The photo shows the police officer firing the weapon.
In the video, an officer at the driver’s side window tells Young that she is being accused of shoplifting and tells her to get 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 slowly rolls forward, and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, after the car comes to a stop in front of the building, they smash the driver’s side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was fatally injured.
Sean Walton, the family’s attorney, said the law is clear about when an officer can use deadly force.
“In no case does anyone who commits shoplifting contribute to their being killed by a police officer,” he said. “They bear no responsibility.”
Some departments in the USA Prohibit officers from shooting on or from moving vehicles, and law enforcement groups such as the Police Research Forum say that shooting in such circumstances poses an unacceptable risk to bystanders from ricochets or loss of control of the vehicle by the driver.
The Blendon Township Police Department’s use of force policy states that officers should attempt to move away from an approaching vehicle rather than firing their weapons. An officer should only shoot if he or she “reasonably believes that no other reasonable means are available to avert the immediate threat posed by the vehicle or if deadly force not posed by the vehicle is being directed at the officer or other persons.”
The encounter between Young and the police was a a disturbing series of fatal shootings of black adults and children by police officers in Ohio and has followed various cases of police brutality against blacks across the country in recent years.
The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation completed its investigation into the shooting last December before assigning a special prosecutor to oversee the case. The prosecutor then presented evidence to the grand jury within two days. Grand juries do not consider whether the defendant is guilty, but whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department opened a disciplinary investigation after Grubb was charged. Grubb has been a full-time township officer since 2019 and has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. His personnel file shows he had no disciplinary history in his first job as a police officer.
“No one in Blendon Township has made a judgment as to whether Officer Grubb acted within the law,” the police chief said in a statement. “However, since the individuals charged may not possess a firearm, the charges against him leave us with no choice but to pursue disciplinary action.”
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This story has been updated to correct that Brian Steel is the union’s president, not the executive vice president.
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Seewer reported from Toledo. Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
