An Ohio officer who shot and killed a pregnant Black mother in a supermarket parking lot after she was accused of shoplifting has been acquitted of all charges, including murder, following several days of deliberation.
Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb had faced the possibility of life in prison for the shooting death of Ta’Kiya Young.
The courtroom stayed silent as the judge read the verdicts on Friday. Grubb stood firm, while Young’s grandmother, who is raising her two sons, collapsed in tears. She could be heard shouting, “It’s not right! This is not right!”
Grubb and Sgt. Erick Moynihan approached Young’s parked car on Aug. 24, 2023, after receiving a report that she was suspected of stealing alcohol from a Kroger store in a Columbus suburb. She partially lowered her window and objected as both officers cursed and ordered her to get out. Bodycam footage showed Grubb placing his left hand on the hood while pointing his gun at her with his right. Young asked, “Are you going to shoot me?”
She then activated her turn signal, and the car rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single shot into her chest, according to the video.
Moments later, after the car stopped against the building, officers broke the driver’s side window. Police said they attempted to save her, but she was fatally wounded. Young and her unborn daughter were later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Jurors viewed the bodycam footage and heard expert testimony during the two-week trial. Moynihan testified, while Grubb attended but did not take the stand. Instead, a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation read a statement from him into the record.
In the statement, Grubb said he positioned himself in front of Young’s vehicle to provide backup and protect other people in the parking lot. He said he drew his gun after hearing Young refuse Moynihan’s commands. When the car moved forward, he said he felt it strike his legs and shins and start to lift him off the ground, prompting him to fire.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young, who is not related to Ta’Kiya, dismissed four of the 10 counts involving the death of Young’s unborn daughter. He agreed with defense attorneys that prosecutors did not prove Grubb knew Young was pregnant when he shot her.
Sean Walton, attorney for the Young family, called the verdict “an American tragedy,” criticizing what he described as a dual system of justice in the U.S. The family’s legal team vowed to keep fighting in civil court. Her estate has sued the township and police chief over department practices, and a federal lawsuit claims Grubb was not trained or supervised properly and “recklessly escalated” the encounter.
Grubb’s attorney, Mark Collins, said Grubb cried after the verdict. Collins also criticized the protests that took place at the courthouse during the trial and argued that Grubb should never have faced felony murder charges.
“For the rest of his life, he has to deal with this,” Collins said. “You didn’t get to hear from him because the government put his statement on, but he feels he took a life on duty and realizing, in his life after the fact, he has to walk around with that. And that is a difficult situation.”
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