Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb has been found not guilty on all charges in the 2023 fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young, who was six months pregnant at the time of her death. A Franklin County jury delivered the unanimous verdict after two days of deliberations.
Jurors — nine women and three men — began discussing the case Tuesday afternoon and reached their decision late Thursday morning. Their deliberations restarted earlier in the week after a juror suffered a medical emergency, prompting the judge to replace them with an alternate.
Connor Grubb faced six charges, including murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. Four additional charges related to the death of Young’s unborn child were previously dismissed by Judge David Young after prosecutors failed to provide evidence that Grubb knew she was pregnant when he fired the single shot.
The shooting happened on August 24, 2023, outside a Kroger store near Columbus, Ohio. Police were alerted by a store employee who said Young had stolen bottles of alcohol and pointed out her vehicle. Body camera footage showed officers repeatedly ordering Young to exit the car. She refused, asking at one point, “Are you going to shoot me?”
Video played in court showed Connor Grubb standing in front of the vehicle as it began to move forward. His feet were lifted off the ground as the car made contact, and he fired once through the windshield, striking Young in the chest. Her car then rolled into a building before officers broke the window and attempted to render aid.
Prosecutors argued that Young was not a threat, saying Grubb acted recklessly and escalated the situation. Defense attorneys maintained that Young’s vehicle became a deadly weapon the moment it moved toward Grubb and that his use of force was “objectively reasonable” under police standards.
Jurors heard testimony from 17 witnesses, including use-of-force experts, accident reconstructionists and police policy specialists. Grubb did not testify; instead, a written statement he provided to investigators was read in court. In it, he said he believed he needed to act to protect himself and others.
Following the verdict, Connor Grubb remains on unpaid leave. Blendon Township officials said an internal investigation will begin now that the criminal case is concluded. Meanwhile, Young’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against Grubb, Blendon Township and Kroger.
The case drew national attention due to the circumstances surrounding the shooting and Young’s pregnancy, making the not-guilty verdict a significant moment in ongoing debates about police use of force.