COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio police officer who shot and killed Ta'Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother who had been accused of shoplifting, was acquitted on all counts Friday, including murder.
Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb had faced up to life in prison if convicted. Young’s grandmother collapsed into sobs at the decision, shouting “It’s not right! This is not right!” The judge then told Grubb he was free to go.
Sean Walton, an attorney for the Young family, called it “an American tragedy,” the outcome of a dual system of justice in the U.S. He vowed to keep pursuing a lawsuit against the township and police chief, while Ta'Kiya's grandmother Nadine Young raises her great-grandsons, now 8 and 5.
“It's also heartbreaking because what it does is it normalizes the behavior like that Connor Grubb exhibited that day, and that is not normal,” Walton said. “If you look at these recent police killings in Columbus, you have officers who have an irrational fear with no weapons involved or folks doing very minimal behavior that they escalate into a murder.”
Defense attorney Mark Collins said Grubb and his family are relieved, but that it's wrong to suggest the officer was untouched by the death of Young and her unborn daughter.
“For the rest of his life, he has to deal with this,” he said. “Trust me, you didn't get to hear from him because the government put his statement out, but he took a life on duty and realized another's life after the fact, and to walk around with that is a difficult situation.”
At the same time, Collins called it “unconscionable” that a law enforcement officer would be indicted for felony murder in such a case. He said legislators should fix Ohio's grand jury system.
Grubb had pleaded not guilty to murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the death of Young, 21, on Aug. 24, 2023. Bodycam recordings showed Young refusing to exit her parked car outside a Kroger in suburban Columbus, and then turning her steering wheel to the right before the vehicle began slowly rolling forward toward Grubb, who fired one shot into her chest through the windshield.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young, no relation to Ta’Kiya, dropped four of 10 counts relating to the death of Young’s baby, agreeing with defense attorneys that prosecutors failed to present proof that Grubb knew Young was seven months' pregnant when he shot her.
Jurors were shown the bodycam video and heard testimony from a use-of-force expert, an accident reconstructionist, a police policy expert and Sgt. Erick Moynihan, the officer who with Grubb had ordered Young out of her car.
They never heard from Grubb, whose side of the story was contained in a written statement read into the record by a special agent for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He attended the trial, but prosecutors were unable to question him directly.
Grubb and Moynihan had approached Young’s parked car about a report that she was suspected of stealing alcohol from a Kroger store in the Columbus suburb. She partially lowered her window and protested as both officers cursed at her and yelled at her to get out. Bodycam video showed Grubb had his left hand on the car's hood while pointing his gun at her with his right. Young could be heard asking them, “Are you going to shoot me?”
Then, she put on a turn signal and her car rolled slowly forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet into her chest, the recording showed.
In the statement, Grubb said he positioned himself in front of Young’s vehicle to provide backup and to protect other people. He said he drew his gun after he heard Young fail to comply with Moynihan’s commands. When her car moved toward him, he said, he felt the vehicle hit his legs and shins and begin to lift his body off the ground as he shot.
Moments later, after the car came to a stop against the building, they broke the driver’s side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded. Young and her child were pronounced dead at a hospital.
