Family of woman killed in Blendon Township police shooting say officer violated policy

The grandmother of a pregnant woman a Blendon Township police officer shot and killed Aug. 24 in the parking lot of the Sunbury Plaza Kroger, along with her attorney, are accusing the officer of violating department policy.

During an online news conference Wednesday, Nadine Young and her attorney, Sean Walton, also renewed their call for "swift justice" and the arrest of the officer, whom they identified as Connor Grubb.

Ta'Kiya Young, 21, and her unborn daughter died Aug. 24 after a Blendon Township officer shot Young through the windshield of a car in the Kroger parking lot, 5991 S. Sunbury Road. Based on information from a Kroger employee, police suspected Young of shoplifting and told her repeatedly to get out of her four-door Lexus sedan, which they allege was illegally parked in an accessible space.

One officer stood next to the driver's side window speaking with Young while the other officer pulled his gun and stood in front of the vehicle. Body camera footage shows Young turned the steering wheel and the car moved forward, hitting the officer, when he fired once through the front windshield, hitting her.

“She was murdered — her and her baby,” Nadine Young, who raised Ta'Kiya Young, said during Wednesday's news conference.

Young family's attorney accuses Blendon Township officer of violating department policy

Walton went through the body camera footage and pointed to Blendon Township Police Department’s policy manual as evidence that Grubb should have taken other steps instead of pulling his gun and putting himself in front of the vehicle.

The department's policy, which police released along with the body camera video but about which they have not answered questions, states:

"When feasible, officers should take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle or any of its occupants.

"An officer should only discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupants when the officer reasonably believes there are not other reasonable means available to avert the imminent threat of the vehicle, or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed tat the officer or others."

Walton said Grubb "could have clearly just eased out of the way of that slow-moving vehicle."

The policy also states, "Officers should not shoot at any part of a vehicle in an attempt to disable the vehicle."

Walton said Young was suspected only of shoplifting and that officers had no reason to believe she had a weapon when Grubb pulled his gun.

"It's a petty theft. There is no reasonable officer in this country who should pull their gun out for a petty theft in that scenario," Walton said.

Brian Steel, executive vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, previously said, "I understand why (the shooting) could be justified," citing the officer's concern he was about to be run over by a 2,000-pound weapon.

"I don't make that decision," Steel said of whether the shooting was justified. "Ultimately, a grand jury is going to make that decision."

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the shooting. When the investigation is concluded, the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office will present the case to a county grand jury to review for possible criminal charges.

Walton and Nadine Young called Wednesday for "swift justice," saying they don't want delays like in other police shooting cases in the county.

"Anytime we have a citizen who's accused of murder, we have swift justice," Walton said. "We cannot have these continued delays (in police cases) that are justice denied."

Walton pointed to the December 2020 shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. by former Franklin County Sheriff's SWAT deputy Jason Meade, who was indicted a year later on charges of murder and reckless homicide and is still awaiting trial. Walton represents the Goodson family in a federal civil rights lawsuit against Meade and Franklin County.

Attorney: It's important that the public knows officer's name

The Blendon Township Police Department has not confirmed the name of the officer who shot Young, citing Marsy's Law, which aims to protect crime victims but has recently been cited by local police agencies as the reason they can't release the names of officers involved in such situations.

"They're using Marsy's Law in this scenario and other police-involved shootings because they killed someone and they're trying to shield their names from the public," Walton said. "It's contrary to the public interest. It's contrary to public safety."

In any other scenario involving a murder suspect's name, police would put that name out there, Walton said.

"It's important that the public knows who he is," Walton said.

Related coverage: Who was Ta'Kiya Young? What we know about the 21-year-old killed in Blendon Twp. shooting

What does the police bodycam video show?

The shooting happened around 6:20 p.m., after a Kroger store employee told officers who were in the parking lot on an unrelated call they believed Young was among people who had shoplifted and fled the store. Young was getting into a dark-colored Lexus sedan, allegedly without a license plate and parked in an accessible spot, when officers were alerted to the alleged shoplifting.

Body camera footage released Friday by Blendon Township shows one officer approached Young's driver's side window and Young refusing to get out of the car or turn it off when asked repeatedly to do so. In the video, Young denied stealing anything.

The second officer, identified by Nadine Young and Walton as Grubb, approached the front of Young's vehicle with his firearm drawn, the body camera video shows. Young asked, "Are you going to shoot me?" and the first officer hit her window as he again told her to get out of the car.

Young turned the steering wheel, and the car moved forward, hitting Grubb, who fired a single shot through the front windshield, hitting Young in the chest.

Young's funeral is planned for Thursday afternoon.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Family says Blendon Township cop who shot pregnant woman violated policy