An Ohio police officer shot and killed a pregnant Black woman aged 21 on Wednesday. The officer pleaded not guilty to murder charges through video conference.
Ta’Kiya Young was killed in the parking lot of a nearby Kroger store on August 24, 2023. Connor Grubb, a police officer in Blendon Township, is charged with four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of unintentional manslaughter. Her unborn child did not make it.
“Connor is 29 years old and has no record at all.” “He is married and has two young children, your honor,” his lawyer Mark Collins said. “He has lived in central Ohio all his life; both his parents and his wife’s parents live there.”
Grubb had a “clean record,” and the judge said, “It’s been over a year since the events occurred.” So, the judge set his bond at $250,000. He also told Grubb he couldn’t have a gun and that he had to show his travel papers, like his passport.
Collins said his client had shown police around the scene of the crime the day of the event and turned himself in on Tuesday knowing there was an arrest warrant out for him. He also gave police a five-page statement.
Richard Glennon, the prosecutor, asked for a bond that was “proportional to the severity of the charges.” Collins, on the other hand, asked the court to set the least restrictive terms for him.
“The defendant pleaded not guilty today.” The court set the bond at $250,000.00 in cash. The defendant must also give up any guns they may have and their passport, green card, and travel papers. According to the rules in their area, the court also set an extra $20,000.00 recognizance bond, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Body camera footage and surveillance video that was released after the shooting show that Grubb and another cop accused Young of shoplifting while she was in her car. When her car started to move toward Grubb, he fired one shot into the window, hitting Young.
An autopsy showed that Young died from a gunshot to the heart. What the Franklin County Coroner’s Office said was that her unborn child was about 25 to 28 weeks old.
The arraignment of Grubb happens at a time when police abuse in the US, especially against Black people, is getting more attention.
A police officer in Arkansas was recently fired after a bodycam video showed him beating a person in handcuffs in the back of a police car.
A Black woman, 36 years old, called 911 for help and was killed by an officer in her own home in Illinois. The deputy’s law enforcement certificate wasn’t taken away until he was fired and charged with murder. He had been fired from the Army for major misconduct, had been arrested for DUI before, and had worked at six different police departments in four years.
After Grubb killed Young, police said that he and the other officer who confronted the 21-year-old were assault victims. They didn’t want to reveal their names because their faces were blurred in the bodycam video.
Chief John Belford of the Blendon Township Police Department said Tuesday that the department had asked for an outside investigation into what happened and is now forced by law to punish Grubb.
“I want to be very clear: We’re not making any decisions about whether Officer Grubb did the right thing.” “The proof hasn’t been shown to us,” he said. “However, since people who have been charged cannot legally own a gun, the charge against him leaves us with no choice but to legally start the punishment process.”
Inside the shop, surveillance video shows Young putting several liquor bottles in her purse before leaving, which sets off alarms. A store worker told police that the woman who stole alcohol bottles was in a car parked outside the store before Grubb and the other cop went up to Young.
Sean Walton, a lawyer for the Young family, said that the charges against Grubb are a win.
“The actions that led to Ta’Kiya’s death—the needless violence and the chilling orders that meant “comply or die”—were there for all of us to see in terrible detail,” Walton said in a statement. “Ta’Kiya and her daughter were killed in a brutal act, which is yet another sign of how badly police need to be held accountable and change how they act.”