COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A use-of-force review board cleared the Ohio police officer who shot and killed 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother who had been accused of shoplifting, according to a statement from the police department's chief released this week.
The five-member review board, empaneled by Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford, found that Officer Connor Grubb did not violate department policy when he fatally shot Young on Aug. 24, 2023, during an encounter in a Kroger parking lot in a Columbus suburb.
“The deaths of Ta’Kiya Young and her unborn child were a profound tragedy for her family, our department, and the community,” Belford said in a written statement. “After receiving the complete investigation and evidence from BCI, the Use of Force Review Board conducted a thorough policy review and found no violation of department policy by Officer Grubb.”
Per the department's policy, the board convened in December after a Franklin County jury acquitted Grubb on all counts, including murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the death of Young.
Four of the board's members work at law enforcement agencies in Franklin County, and one is a township trustee from Brown Township, according to Ryan Stubenrauch, a spokesman for the Blendon Township police.
Sean Walton, an attorney representing Young's family, said the review board's results are “unsurprising” and the department's policies are “a clear and present danger to everyone who encounters their officers.”
“He (Grubb) chose escalation over de-escalation. He chose to create danger and respond to the danger he created. Now his department has cleared him instead of sending a message that would protect lives in the future,” Walton said.
Bodycam recordings showed Grubb and Sgt. Erick Moynihan had approached Young’s car outside a Kroger about a report that she was suspected of stealing alcohol from the store. She partially lowered her window and protested as both officers cursed at her and yelled at her to get out. On bodycam video, 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 through her windshield into her chest, the bodycam recording showed.
In the statement, Grubb said he positioned himself in front of Young’s vehicle to provide proper backup. 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, the officers are seen breaking the driver’s side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded. Young and her unborn daughter were subsequently pronounced dead at a hospital.
A full-time officer with the township since 2019, Grubb was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.
FILE - Sean Walton, attorney for Ta'Kiya Young's family, speaks to reporters after arraignment proceedings of Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb, Aug. 14, 2024, at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in Columbus. (AP Photo/David Dermer, File)
FILE - This still image from bodycam video released by the Blendon Township Police on 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)
