Trial continues for officer charged with shooting pregnant Black woman
COLUMBUS, Ohio– An Ohio police officer’s murder trial continues Thursday in the 2023 shooting death of a pregnant Black mother, he and another officer faced a shoplifting charge.
Connor Grubb is charged with murder, manslaughter and felonious assault in the deaths of Ta’Kiya Young, 21, and her unborn daughter, due three months later. It was unclear whether Grubb would take the stand after the officer’s written statement was read Wednesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Grubb and his fellow Blendon Township police officer had approached Young’s car on Aug. 24, 2023, regarding a report that she was suspected of stealing alcohol from a grocery store in suburban Columbus. She partially rolled down her window and the other officer ordered her to get out. Instead, she rolled her car toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest, video footage showed.
A special prosecutor told the jury during opening statements last week that Grubb had no justification for shooting Young, arguing that she did not pose a threat to him or anyone at the time of the encounter. The defense countered that Young’s acceleration of his vehicle toward Grubb was a motive for the 31-year-old officer’s actions.
In Grubb’s written statement, read to the jury by a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the officer said he observed Young arguing with his co-worker and positioned himself in front of his vehicle to provide backup and protect others in the parking lot.
He said he pulled his gun after hearing Young not complying with his partner’s commands. When she drove toward him, he said in the release, he felt her car hit his legs and shins and begin to lift his body off the ground.
Some members of Young’s family left the courtroom Monday, the first day of testimony, as jurors were shown body camera footage of the shooting.
The video showed a police officer at the driver’s side window telling Young that she was accused of shoplifting and ordering her to get out of the car. Young protested and the two officers swore at her and shouted at her to get out. Young could be heard asking them: “Are you going to shoot me?”
Then she turned the steering wheel to the right, the car rolled slowly forward and Grubb fired his gun, footage showed. Moments later, after the car stopped against the building, they smashed the driver’s side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was fatally injured. Young and her unborn daughter were later pronounced dead at a hospital.
A full-time officer with the municipality since 2019, Grubb was placed on the job after the shooting.
Mark Collins, one of the officer’s attorneys, told reporters after Young’s arraignment that the video showed the shooting was justified, saying the officer was at risk of serious injury or death from being struck by the car.
Sean Walton, the family’s attorney, said Grubb escalated the situation by unnecessarily drawing his gun when he first confronted Young.
