Ta'Kiya Young autopsy released, confirms single gunshot hit pregnant woman's heart
An autopsy report shows that a woman shot and killed in August by a Blendon Township police officer was between 25 and 28 weeks pregnant and died after the bullet struck her heart and aorta.
Ta'Kiya Young, 21, died on Aug. 24 after being shot in the parking lot of the Kroger store located at 5991 S. Sunbury Road.
Young was shot a single time, according to her autopsy report from the Franklin County Coroner's Office, with the bullet striking her chest and penetrating her heart.
The autopsy determined that Young's baby, a girl who also died, was between 25 and 28 weeks of gestational age at the time of the shooting.
The toxicology report from the autopsy shows Young had evidence of THC or cannabis in her system, but it was not able to show when she consumed it. There were no other drugs or alcohol in her system, according to the report.
Young's family has identified Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb as the person who fired the fatal shot. Blendon Township has not confirmed the identity of the officer, citing Marsy's Law.
Body camera footage from the shooting shows two Blendon Township officers were in the Kroger parking lot helping someone who had locked themselves out of their car. A Kroger employee approaches one of the officers and points out Young, who is seen getting into a dark-colored sedan, and said Young had shoplifted from the store.
The officer approaches Young's driver's side window, knocking on the window and the windshield, telling Young to stop the car. Young partially rolls down her window and questions why the officer is talking to her. The officer tells Young someone at the store had accused her of stealing. Young denies the allegation but refuses to get out of her vehicle, which is running.
By that time, the second officer, who Young's family says is Grubb, had approached the front of Young's vehicle and had his firearm drawn.
The body camera video shows Young turning the steering wheel to the right and then back to the left before the vehicle moves forward, hitting the officer in front. That officer fires a single shot through the windshield.
Blendon Township said within 90 seconds of Young being pulled out of the car by the officers - who broke the driver's side window to get to her and remove her from the car - emergency medical aid was being given by the officers and an emergency room doctor who happened to be in the parking lot.
Young, who was pregnant, died at Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital a short time later.
The coroner's office ruled Young's death a homicide, meaning it was a death at the hands of another. The ruling does not indicate whether or not a crime occurred.
Nadine Young, the grandmother of Ta'Kiya Young, said when reached by The Dispatch on Wednesday that she had not yet reviewed the autopsy results.
She said that despite allegations of alcohol theft, Young did not drink and "wasn't an alcoholic."
"It's about justice, it wasn't about her drinking no alcohol," Young said.
Sean Walton, the attorney the Young family has hired to represent them in a potential civil lawsuit, said the autopsy shows the officer killed two people on Aug. 24, both Young and her unborn daughter.
"The single gunshot Grubb fired that day was not only unnecessary and in violation of Blendon Township departmental policy and best policing practices nationally, it was a criminal act that deserves a criminal indictment," Walton said. "The family looks forward to BCI completing their investigation and the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office bringing charges against Connor Grubb for the murders of Ta'Kiya and her unborn daughter."
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the case. Once that investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the Franklin County Prosecutor's office for review. The prosecutor's office will present the case to a grand jury, as is practice in all fatal police shootings, for determination of whether any criminal charges are warranted in the case.
Dispatch reporters Jordan Laird and Cole Behrens contributed to this story.
bbruner@dispatch.com
@bethany_bruner
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ta'Kiya Young autopsy released, single gunshot struck woman's heart
