Officer Acquitted in Fatal Parking-Lot Shooting of Pregnant Black Mother

An Ohio police officer has been acquitted of all criminal charges, including murder, in the shooting death of Ta'Kiya Young, a pregnant Black woman who was shot in a supermarket parking lot after being accused of shoplifting.

The verdict came after multiple days of jury deliberation in a trial that featured body-worn camera footage, witness testimony and competing accounts of the encounter. The courtroom fell silent as the judge read the not-guilty verdicts. Young's grandmother, who is raising her two sons, sobbed and shouted,

"It's not right! This is not right!"

Prosecutors say that on Aug. 24, 2023, Blendon Township officers Connor Grubb and Sgt. Erick Moynihan approached Young's parked car following a report that she had been suspected of stealing alcohol from a Kroger in a Columbus suburb. Bodycam video shown at trial captured the officers repeatedly ordering Young to exit the vehicle while using profanity. In the footage, Grubb is seen with one hand on the car's hood and a firearm in the other as Young partially lowered her window. She is heard asking,

"Are you going to shoot me?"

The recording shows Young activating a turn signal and her car rolling slowly forward toward Grubb. Grubb fired a single shot that struck her in the chest. The vehicle came to a stop against a building; officers broke the driver's-side window and attempted lifesaving measures. Young and her unborn daughter were later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Grubb attended the two-week trial but did not testify. A special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation read a statement Grubb submitted in which he said he positioned himself in front of the vehicle to provide backup and protect others in the parking lot. According to that statement, Grubb drew his weapon after Young did not comply with commands; when the car moved toward him, he said it struck his legs and began lifting him off the ground, and he fired.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young (no relation to Ta'Kiya Young) dismissed four of 10 counts related to the death of the unborn child after agreeing with defense attorneys that prosecutors had not proven Grubb knew she was pregnant at the time of the shooting.

Sean Walton, an attorney for the Young family, called the verdict "an American tragedy" and criticized what he described as unequal treatment under the legal system. The family has filed a civil lawsuit against the township and police chief, and a federal complaint alleges the department failed to train or supervise Grubb adequately and that he "recklessly escalated" the situation.

Grubb's lawyer, Mark Collins, said Grubb cried after the verdict and criticized protests outside the courthouse. Collins also said Grubb should never have faced felony murder charges and that the officer will have to live with the knowledge that someone died after he fired his weapon while on duty.

What remains next

The Young family’s legal team has said it will continue to pursue civil remedies. The case has renewed public scrutiny of police use of force, body-camera evidence in court, and how departments train officers to handle tense encounters in public spaces.