Officer Connor Grubb walked out of an Ohio courtroom a free man on Thursday, acquitted of every charge in the killing of a pregnant Black mother whose death sparked outrage far beyond the supermarket parking lot where her life ended.
The Blendon Township police officer had been facing the possibility of life in prison for the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young, who died alongside her unborn daughter after a confrontation over suspected shoplifting spiraled into a deadly encounter. But after two weeks of testimony — and with Grubb never taking the stand — a Franklin County jury cleared him of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.
The verdict arrived after Judge David Young, who is not related to the victim, dismissed four additional counts tied to the death of Young’s fetus, agreeing with the defense that prosecutors hadn’t shown Grubb knew she was pregnant when he pulled the trigger.
The August 2023 shooting began with a call about stolen bottles of alcohol at a Kroger store outside Columbus. Body-camera footage played repeatedly in court showed officers Grubb and Sgt. Erick Moynihan approaching Young’s car, shouting commands, swearing at her, and demanding she step out. Young protested through a partially lowered window, at one point asking, “Are you going to shoot me?”
Grubb kept one hand braced on the hood and the other trained on her with his firearm as Young turned her steering wheel and signaled right. Seconds later, the car inched forward. Grubb fired a single round directly through the windshield into her chest.
Prosecutors argued Young’s slow roll forward didn’t justify lethal force, pointing to experts in use-of-force and crash reconstruction who testified that Grubb’s life was not in imminent danger. They noted he had placed himself in front of the vehicle and maintained control of his gun the entire time.
But jurors also heard — indirectly — Grubb’s account, delivered not under questioning but through a written statement read aloud by a state investigator. In it, he said he had stepped in front of the car to protect bystanders and backed up Moynihan’s commands. When the vehicle moved, he said, he felt it strike his legs and lift him before he fired.
Grubb attended each day of the trial but avoided cross-examination entirely — a significant blow to prosecutors, who had no opportunity to probe inconsistencies or press him on the body-cam footage.
After the shooting, Young’s car rolled into the storefront. Officers shattered a window to reach her, but the wound was fatal. She and her unborn daughter were pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward.
After Thursday’s verdict, the family of Ta’Kiya Young left court without comment — carrying their grief into yet another chapter where the criminal justice system declined to intervene.
