Ohio officer indicted in 2023 shooting death of pregnant woman near Columbus: What we know

• Ta'Kiya Young was 21 years old when she was confronted by police officers who suspected her of shoplifting liquor at a Kroger in Blendon Township, located near the Columbus suburb of Westerville.
• The death of Young, who is Black, sparked outrage and sadness across the U.S., as well as calls for the officer to be arrested for the shooting.
• Connor Grubb, 29, has now been indicted by a grand jury for murder and other felonies stemming from the fatal shooting in August 2023.

A central Ohio police officer who shot and killed a pregnant woman in August 2023 in a Kroger parking lot has been charged with murder and other felonies related to her death.

Ta'Kiya Young was 21 years old when she was confronted by police officers who suspected her of shoplifting liquor at the grocery store in Blendon Township, located near the Columbus suburb of Westerville. When Young attempted to flee the officers in her vehicle, one of them fired his weapon, striking and killing the woman and her unborn daughter.

The death of Young, who is Black, sparked outrage and sadness across a country that had just three years earlier endured waves of protests – some of them violent – after the murder of George Floyd. In a series of protests and vigils following Young's shooting death, activists and family members called for the arrest of the officer who fired the gun.

Now, little more than a week shy of the first anniversary of Young's death, that officer, Connor Grubb, has been indicted by a grand jury in Franklin County, Ohio, according to the Columbus Dispatch, a USA TODAY Network publication.

Here's what to know about Young's death and Grubb's indictment on Tuesday.

Who is Ta'Kiya Young?

Young was a 21-year-old mother of two sons, who were 6 and 3 years old at the time of her death. When she was fatally shot, Young was also pregnant with a daughter who her family said was due that November.

Young's death sparked several peaceful vigils in her memory, as well as in honor of her unborn daughter.

In the days after her death, local activists and protest groups met at the Kroger to call for justice and accountability in the shooting. More than two dozen family and friends also gathered within days of her death at Young's grandmother's home, where they lit candles in memory of Young and her unborn child.

At Young's Sept. 7 funeral, mourners wore pink and white to celebrate her favorite colors.

What do we know about Ta'Kiya Young's death?

Body camera footage released by Blendon Township police within about a week of Young's death showed the point of view of the two officers who approached Young prior to the Aug. 24, 2023 shooting.

The officers, who were in the parking lot of a Kroger on an unrelated call, had been flagged down by a store employee who accused Young and several others of shoplifting items from the store, including liquor.

In the footage, Young can be seen already in the four-door sedan when one officer approaches the driver's side and the other approaches the front of the vehicle. One officer tells her to step out of the vehicle, prompting Young to partially roll down her window and ask, "for what?"

Eventually, the video shows Young driving forward and hitting the officer in front of her car – now identified as Grubb –whose feet are seen off the ground when he fires a single shot through the windshield. Young's vehicle continued moving forward until it hit the building.

A passerby, who happened to be an emergency room doctor, assisted police at the scene until paramedics arrived and transported Young Mount Carmel St. Ann's hospital, where she died from her injuries.

An autopsy later confirmed that Young died from gunshot wounds to her chest. The officers were not aware that Young was pregnant, police later said.

Following the shooting, Blendon Township police requested the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation conduct an outside investigation of the shooting. The procedure is standard among police agencies in Ohio when one of their officers kills or injures someone in a shooting.

Who is Connor Grubb, officer who shot Young?

Grubb, 29, has been a Blendon Township police officer since 2019, according to records from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. 

It is the only police agency Grubb has worked for in Ohio. He and the other officer who approached Young that day were initially placed on paid administrative leave, but as of Monday, Grubb was listed as a full-time officer with the agency.

Following the news of Grubb's indictment, Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said in a video statement that the agency is starting the disciplinary process "immediately."

"I want to be very clear: We're not passing any judgement on whether officer Grubb acted properly," Belford said. "We haven't seen the evidence."

Grubb attended the Delaware Area Career Center’s law enforcement program before being hired in Blendon Township.

What has Grubb been charged with in Young's death?

Grubb faces four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to an indictment filed Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Two of the murder counts are related to Young's death, while the other two counts are regarding the death of her unborn baby.

Under Ohio law, a person can be charged with multiple counts related to different theories of how a death occurred. In Grubb's case, he is charged in all four counts of causing the death of Young and her unborn daughter as a proximate cause of a felonious assault, commonly called felony murder.

While a Franklin County grand jury heard the case against Grubb, it was the Montgomery County Prosecutor's office west of Columbus that presented it. The Franklin County Prosecutor's office had requested the outside agency review and present the case due to a simple conflict of interested: The prosecutor's office would be the agency to represent Blendon Township in any civil lawsuits.

Young's family has not filed a civil lawsuit yet but could file one at any time up to two years from the date of her death.

What are people saying about Grubb's murder indictment?

• Columbus attorney Sean Walton, who represents Young's family, said in a statement: "Ta'Kiya’s life and that of her daughter were extinguished in an act of brutality, becoming yet another symbol of the urgent need for reform in police conduct and accountability."

• Nadine Young, Young's grandmother, said at a Tuesday news conference: "It was wrong for him to take her and that baby out of this world," Nadine Young said.

• Mark Collins and Kaitlyn Stephens, local attorneys who have represented other police officers indicted in on-duty shootings, said in a statement Tuesday that "when viewed through the eyes of a reasonable police officer, the evidence will show that our client's actions were justified when there is video evidence that Officer Grubb was hit by a moving vehicle ... This case is not about if Connor Grubb made the decision to use deadly force, but why he made the decision to use deadly force."
• Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, said in a statement that the union is "deeply disappointed" by Grubb's indictment. "Like all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision ... these decisions are made under extreme pressure and often in life-threatening situations, with the primary goal of safeguarding the general public's and their own lives."

What's next? Here's when Grubb will appear in court

The Montgomery County Prosecutor's office said the court issued a warrant for Grubb's arrest as part of the indictment.

Grubb is scheduled to have his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon, an online court docket shows.