Estate of pregnant mother shot to death by police in Ohio parking lot sues township and police chief

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer accused of shooting to death a pregnant Black mother two years ago was not trained or supervised properly, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday against the police chief and the township that employed him.

The estate of Ta’Kiya Young sued Blendon Township and its police chief over her August 2023 fatal shooting in the parking lot of a grocery store in the Columbus suburbs. She had been suspected of shoplifting bottles of alcohol when Officer Connor M. Grubb and another officer approached her car. Young, 21, partially lowered her window and the other officer ordered her to get out of the vehicle.

When she moved her car to the right, it rolled toward Grubb, who is accused of shooting her through the windshield. Young and the unborn daughter she was expecting as her third child were both pronounced dead at a hospital. Grubb was charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault last year.

Grubb has pleaded not guilty, and a hearing in his criminal case is scheduled for next week.

“Without reasonable verification or investigation, the officers recklessly escalated their response, singling out Ms. Young and treating her as a dangerous criminal despite the minor nature of the allegations,” the lawsuit claims. Grubb has had other “aggressive encounters with community members” but faced no meaningful discipline, the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit makes a single claim of municipal liability and seeks damages along with an injunction to stop policies that deprived Young and her unborn child of their constitutional rights.

Young’s estate also sued Grubb, supermarket chain Kroger Company and one of the store’s employees last month. That earlier lawsuit, filed in Franklin County, makes claims of wrongful death and negligence.

Phone messages seeking comment were left Wednesday for civil and criminal lawyers for Grubb, as well as Police Chief John C. Belford and for a lawyer for Blendon Township. An email message was left for a Kroger spokesperson.

Mark Collins, a lawyer for Grubb, told reporters after Grubb’s arraignment last year that the video showed Young’s shooting was justified.

“The reason he just discharged his weapon is because he felt the threat of serious physical injury from being hit by the car or potential death,” Collins said.