Ohio officer who fatally shot pregnant 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young pleads not guilty

By Lauren Mascarenhas and Sabrina Souza, CNN

(CNN) — The police officer who shot and killed a pregnant 21-year-old Black woman in Columbus, Ohio, pleaded not guilty to murder charges via video conference Wednesday.

Connor Grubb, a Blendon Township police officer, faces four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Ta’Kiya Young in the parking lot of a local Kroger grocery store on August 24, 2023. Her unborn child did not survive.

“Connor is 29 years old with no record whatsoever. He is married, he has two children, your honor, they are young,” his attorney Mark Collins said. “He is a lifelong resident of central Ohio both his wife’s parents and his parents live in central Ohio.”

The judge, citing Grubb’s “clean record” and considering “it’s been over a year since the events occurred,” set his bond at $250,000. He also ordered Grubb not to possess a firearm and submit travel documents including his passport.

Collins said his client had walked law enforcement through the scene on the day of the incident, voluntarily turned himself in on Tuesday when he knew there was a warrant and turned in a five-page statement.

Collins asked the court to make the least restrictive conditions for him while prosecutor Richard Glennon asked for a bond “proportionate to the severity of the charges.”

“Today, the defendant pled not guilty. The Court set bond at $250,000.00 cash surety. In addition, the defendant must not possess firearms and must surrender passport, green card and travel documents. The court also set an additional $20,000.00 recognizance bond, pursuant to their local rules,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to the defense for comment.

Redacted body-camera footage and surveillance video released after the shooting show Grubb and another officer confronting Young in her vehicle with shoplifting accusations. When her car began moving in the direction of Grubb, he fired a single shot into her windshield, which struck Young.

An autopsy determined Young died of a gunshot wound to the heart. Her fetus was at about 25 to 28 weeks of development, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office said.

Grubb’s arraignment comes during a period of increased scrutiny on police violence in the US, particularly toward Black people.

An Arkansas police officer was recently fired after the release of bodycam footage showing him beating a handcuffed detainee in the back of a police car.

In Illinois, a 36-year-old Black woman called 911 for help and was killed by a deputy in her own home. The deputy – who was previously discharged by the Army for serious misconduct, had a history of DUI and had bounced around six police departments in four years – only had his law enforcement certificate suspended after he was fired and charged with murder.

After Grubb killed Young, police said he and the other officer who confronted the 21-year-old were victims of assault and withheld their identities, blurring their faces in the bodycam footage.

Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said Tuesday the department requested an outside investigation into the incident and is now required by law to take disciplinary action against Grubb.

“I want to be very clear: We’re not passing any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted properly. We haven’t seen the evidence,” he said. “However, since people who have been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to legally begin the disciplinary process.”

Surveillance footage from inside the store shows Young placing several bottles of liquor into her handbag before leaving the store, setting off alarms. Police said a store employee told officers that a woman who had stolen bottles of alcohol was in a car parked outside the store before Grubb and the other officer approached Young.

An attorney for the Young family, Sean Walton, said the charges against Grubb are a victory.

“The actions that led to the death of Ta’Kiya — the unnecessary aggression, the chilling commands that amounted to ‘comply or die’ — were there for us all to witness in dreadful clarity,” Walton 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.”

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CNN’s Eric Levenson and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.