A Franklin County jury has found Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb not guilty on all charges in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant Black mother killed in August 2023 outside a Kroger on Sunbury Road.
The verdict, delivered Friday morning, cleared Grubb of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault after six days of testimony focused on whether his use of deadly force was “reasonable” in the moment.
Young, who was about seven months pregnant, died after Grubb fired a single round through her windshield. Her unborn daughter also died. Four charges related to the baby’s death were dismissed earlier in the trial after the judge ruled prosecutors had not shown Grubb knew she was pregnant.
Police body camera and surveillance footage played in court showed the incident beginning when a Kroger employee flagged down officers, alleging Young had shoplifted liquor. Sgt. Erik Moynihan approached Young’s Lexus and ordered her to step out. Young denied stealing, saying, “I didn’t steal s**t. The other girls were taking…” Moments later, she asked, “Are you going to shoot me?”
As Moynihan hit Young’s partially open window, Grubb moved in front of her car, drew his gun and shouted, “Get out of the ****ing car.”
Young turned on her turn signal, steered away from Grubb, and the vehicle rolled forward. The rolling car hit Grubb which led to him firing one shot into the windshield.
The vehicle continued until it stopped against the front of the building. Grubb and Moynihan broke the window, pulled Young out and attempted medical aid until paramedics arrived.
The Defense
Grubb did not take the stand, but the jury heard a written account he submitted two years ago as part of the state investigation. In it, he claimed:
“At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for my life as the suspect had just struck me with her vehicle. My feet were no longer on the ground and the top half of my body was on the hood of the car.”
He said he stepped in front of the vehicle to provide “lethal cover” because Young wasn’t complying.
“I do not believe I had any other reasonable alternative to protect my life,” he wrote.
Defense experts backed him, saying that Young escalated the situation by hitting Grubb with her vehicle and refusing commands.
Special prosecutors called 14 witnesses, including investigators, bystanders and use-of-force specialists. Their central argument: Grubb created the danger he later used to justify deadly force.
“That was tactically unsound. It was unreasonable. It is unjustified risk taking… The decision to draw his firearm and then use deadly force as opposed to moving out from in front of the vehicle is professionally inappropriate.”
Prosecutors was sure to highlight that Blendon Township policy instructs officers to move out of the path of a vehicle when feasible, rather than fire into it.
The Family’s Response
Young’s family, who sat through the trial, is pursuing civil lawsuits in Franklin County and federal court. Before the trial, family attorney Sean Walton disputed that Young shoplifted at all, saying:
“The bottles were left in the store… She did not commit any theft, and so these officers were not even within their right to place her under arrest, let alone take her life.”
Young leaves behind two sons, ages 8 and 5, who are being raised by her grandmother.
Grubb has been on administrative leave since the shooting.
