Ohio officer indicted in fatal shooting of pregnant Black woman
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An officer puts up police tape at an unrelated crime scene. Photo: Samantha Laurey/AFP via Getty Images
An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on several charges, including murder, in the fatal shooting of Ta'Kiya Young, a pregnant Black woman who was killed in a grocery store parking lot last August.
The big picture: The shooting spurred local protests demanding justice for Young and others killed by law enforcement.
Driving the news: Blendon Township officer Connor Grubb was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in connection to the shooting.
Flashback: Body-camera footage released last September showed Grubb and another officer approaching Young as the 21-year-old sat in her car in a Blendon Township Kroger parking lot after she was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol, Axios' Ivana Saric reported.
- One officer informed Young she had been accused of shoplifting while Grubb pointed his gun at the front of the car. Both officers could be heard in the video telling her to get out of the vehicle.
- The video appears to show Young's car moving forward before Grubb fired a shot through the windshield.
- Young died shortly after the shooting, and her unborn daughter due that November did not survive.
- The names of the officers were not released at the time.
Zoom in: Blendon Township police chief John Belford said his department is starting "the disciplinary process immediately" following the indictment, noting, "We're not passing any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted properly."
- Belford continued: "However, since people who've been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to immediately begin the disciplinary process."
- Grubb was put on leave following the shooting, while the other officer returned to work.
What they're saying: Nadine Young, the grandmother of the victim, said at a Tuesday press conference that she is now raising her granddaughter's two sons.
- "She was the smile; she was the life of the party ... and she did all she could for her babies," Young said. "He took a lot from us. Period."
- She added: "I would like to see … him get a long sentence for taking her life and her baby's life. It's not fair that we don't have her or the baby and he was running around a whole year with paid administrative leave."
- Young's family and their lawyer called for a "swift indictment" of Grubb in a statement following the release of the body-camera footage, saying her death was "avoidable" and "a gross misuse of power and authority."
Go deeper: 10 years after Michael Brown's death, police body camera effectiveness still elusive
