November 23, 2025
Jury finds officer’s actions justified as household denounces choice and a separate civil case proceeds.
An Ohio jury has acquitted Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb of all costs within the 2023 demise of Ta’Kiya Younger, a 21-year-old Black girl who was seven months pregnant. Grubb had been indicted on homicide and extra counts after firing a single shot that resulted in Younger’s demise, however jurors concluded his use of drive was legally justified.
The confrontation unfolded in August 2023 within the car parking zone of a Kroger close to Columbus, the place Younger was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol. Physique-camera footage reveals the officer approaching Younger’s car with one other officer and informing her she was accused of shoplifting. When she refused repeated orders to step out of the automotive, Grubb moved in entrance of the car along with his weapon drawn.
As reported by The Wall Avenue Journal, the video captures the second Younger accelerated, prompting Grubb to fireside as soon as by the windshield. Younger later died from the gunshot wound; her unborn daughter didn’t survive.
Mark Collins, Grubb’s lawyer, stated the case was terribly emotional for everybody concerned. “We imagine they adopted the legislation,” he stated of the jury’s verdict. Collins added that Grubb will carry the load of his actions without end: “For the remainder of his life he has to take care of this. He took a life on responsibility—and realized one other’s life after the very fact—and to stroll round with that may be a troublesome state of affairs.”
The courtroom erupted with grief when the choice was learn. Younger’s grandmother, Nadine Younger, cried out in disbelief, saying, “It’s not proper! This isn’t proper!”
Sean Walton, the lawyer representing Younger’s kin, condemned the police response that led to her demise. Calling the taking pictures “a tragedy that ought to by no means have occurred,” Walton argued that Younger confronted an unattainable state of affairs as soon as a gun was pointed at her. Whereas Younger had solely moments to react, he stated, Grubb—“who had years of coaching”—additionally made a split-second choice that escalated the end result.
Walton criticized what he described as a sample of officers reacting out of disproportionate concern. “You may have officers who’ve an unreasonable and irrational concern—with no weapons concerned or people doing very minimal habits—that they escalate it into homicide,” he stated.
Particular prosecutor Daniel Brandt stated his crew revered the jury’s alternative, even because the broader implications of the case proceed to attract scrutiny.
Parallel to the prison trial, Younger’s property has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Blendon Township and its police chief of failing to correctly prepare Grubb. The civil case, lodged in U.S. District Courtroom in September, stays lively.
Whereas Collins insisted “this wasn’t a case motivated by racial animus,” the taking pictures of a pregnant Black girl—and the following acquittal—has reignited longstanding issues about policing, race, and accountability in Ohio and past.
RELATED CONTENT: Surveillance Footage Exhibits Ta’Kiya Younger In Retailer Earlier than Deadly Interplay With Police
