Family speaks out after officer charged with shooting pregnant black woman: “It’s been agony”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer was charged Tuesday with murder and other charges in the shooting death 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 partner approached her car. The other officer ordered her to get out. Instead, she drove toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through the windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.

GRAPHIC WARNING: The video included in this story may contain disturbing content.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault in the deaths of Young and her baby. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. A warrant has been issued for his arrest 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 to those who protect our communities,” he said in a statement.

Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, said the officer should never have pulled out his gun when he first confronted her.

“It took a lot from us,” she said Tuesday. “It’s not fair. We don’t have her or the baby.”

The past year has been difficult for the family, including her granddaughter’s two young children, she said. “It’s been agony, it’s been like a whirlwind of pain and suffering,” she said.

Family members called for charges to be filed against the officer shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After viewing body camera footage showing the officer firing the gun, the family called his actions a “gross abuse of power and authority,” especially given that Young had been charged with a relatively minor offense.

In the video, an officer at the driver’s side window tells Young that she has been accused of shoplifting and orders her to get out of the car. Young protests, both officers swear 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 wheel to the right, the car moves forward slowly and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, as the car comes to a stop against the building, the driver’s side window is smashed. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was fatally wounded.

Sean Walton, the family’s attorney, said the law is clear about when an officer can use deadly force.

“In no case does a thief contribute to the police killing him,” he said. “She bears no responsibility.”

Some U.S. departments prohibit officers from shooting at or from moving vehicles, and law enforcement groups such as the Police Executive Research Forum say that shooting in such circumstances creates an unacceptable risk to bystanders from stray shots or the driver losing control of the vehicle.

The Blendon Township Police Department’s use of force policy states that officers should attempt to get away from an approaching vehicle rather than firing their weapons. An officer should only shoot when he or she “reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available to avoid the imminent threat from the vehicle, or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed at the officer or others.”

The encounter between Young and police came amid a disturbing spate of fatal shootings of Black adults and children by Ohio officers, and followed several episodes of police brutality against Black people across the country in recent years.

The state 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 do not consider guilt, but instead look at whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has launched a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been charged. Grubb, a full-time township officer since 2019, 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 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 who have been charged cannot legally possess a firearm, the charge against him leaves us no choice but to begin the disciplinary process.”

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This story has been updated to correct that Brian Steel is the union 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.

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