An Ohio police officer accused of fatally shooting a pregnant woman has been indicted on murder charges, according to court documents.
Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb is accused of shooting Ta’Kiya Young, 21, last August after he confronted her in a grocery store parking lot following allegations that she had shoplifted. Authorities said that after Grubb and another officer repeatedly asked her to get out of her vehicle, Young slowly accelerated toward an officer, who police said was struck.
A grand jury indicted Grubb on four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to online records filed Tuesday.
Body camera video from the incident on Aug. 24 shows an officer approaching a car with Young in the driver’s seat.
“Out of the car,” an officer says multiple times.
“For what?” Young asks.
“They said you stole stuff. Do not leave,” he responds.
A second officer then stands in front of Young’s car, puts his hand on the hood and eventually points his gun at her through the front windshield.
“I didn’t steal s---,” Young says.
“Then get out,” the first officer says.
The officer standing in front of Young’s car then points his gun toward her.
“Get out of the f---ing car,” the second officer says.
“No,” Young says, followed by, “You gonna shoot me?”
“Get out of the car,” the first officer responds, banging on Young’s window with one hand and grabbing the slightly opened window with the other.
Seconds later, Young turns her steering wheel and drives off. A sound is heard as Grubb fires into the windshield at close range and moves to the driver’s side.
In a statement after the shooting, Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said that Young drove her car directly into one of the officers and that he “fired a single shot through the windshield,” which led to her death. He said the officer is a victim of attempted vehicular assault.
Belford also said Young drove away while part of the other officer’s arm was in the driver’s side window, making him a victim of misdemeanor assault. As Young tried to drive away, the officer’s fingers were grabbing the window, the video shows.
Grubb was placed on administrative leave. The other officer was initially also placed on administrative leave but returned to duty after Belford viewed body camera video and saw no reason to keep him on leave, he said.
In a statement, the law firm representing Young's family called the indictment "a solemn victory in the pursuit of justice" for Young, who was 21, and her unborn daughter, but only a step, not the conclusion of the journey.
"The grand jury’s decision, fortunately, reflects the community’s collective conscience, recognizing this tragedy for what it truly is — a murder that demands empathy and justice," the statement read.
Nadine Young, 61, said last year that her granddaughter was a mother of two boys, ages 3 and 6, and was expecting a daughter in November.
“An unarmed Black female was killed. That’s what we know. Two kids have no mama," she said at the time.
At a news briefing Tuesday, Nadine Young said she has been raising Young's sons, as she helped raise her for most of her life.
"It’s been, for me, agony," she said. "It’s been like a whirlwind of just hurt and pain."
Young said Grubb did not have to kill her granddaughter, and she called him "a bully with a badge." Ta'Kiya Young's 22nd birthday was Aug. 1, and her youngest son's birthday was July 29.
"Her next son was the 18th of August, and then mine is the 19th. My son's was yesterday," Nadine Young said. "So it’s like we all celebrated together."
Sean Walton, an attorney for the family, said Grubb did not de-escalate the situation the way police are trained to.
"Everything he did escalated that situation, and that’s why Ta'Kiya was murdered," Walton said, adding that Grubb should never have taken out his gun.
Walton said Grubb should be terminated immediately after the indictment. The Blendon Township Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Young's grandmother said she wants Grubb in prison for the rest of his life.
"That would be justice for me and our family and her boys," she said.