COLUMBUS, Ohio — Emotions were running high Friday at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas as the verdict in the Connor Grubb trial was read to the court. Grubb was found not guilty on the six counts he was facing in connection to the fatal officer-involved shooting of Ta’Kiya Young on Aug. 24, 2023.
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From the hallway — the sound of wailing.
Shortly after, the doors to courtroom 7A opened.
Out came Ta’Kiya Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, who had collapsed into the arms of another person and was being helped down the hallway.
A 10TV crew listened as she called out, “Why is this happening? How is this happening?”
On Tuesday after closing arguments in the case, the Young family and one of their attorneys, Sean Walton, told journalists they felt confident going into jury deliberations.
In a press conference Friday about 30 minutes following the verdict, Walton told media that the family hadn’t been expecting the jury’s decision.
“We have to have de-escalation. We cannot have officers pull a gun in a petty theft situation. Two lives were lost. It’s not just Ta’Kiya, it’s an unborn daughter that does not get to step foot on this earth,” he said.
As they grieve Ta’Kiya and Friday’s verdict, the Young family is also gearing up for another court case connected to her fatal shooting.
Back in August, they filed a civil lawsuit.
It was filed against Grubb, the Kroger where this shooting happened and a Kroger employee.
Walton told 10TV that despite the verdict in Grubb’s case, his team still felt confident going into that wrongful death case.
“I believe that the burden of proof in the civil suit is lower, and I have no doubt that we will meet that burden. No doubt about that whatsoever,” Walton said. “But in this moment, it doesn’t bring the family any solace, thinking about the civil part. They wanted him to go to jail, to go to prison.”
Robert Gresham is another attorney representing the Young family in that civil case. He said on Friday the case brings up a bigger conversation about policing communities of color.
As part of their case, Gresham said they’ll be calling for more police training — specifically de-escalation training.
“We need to talk about how we police in this country. I’m not willing to give any grace to what our folks are going through,” he said. “Because there are communities of color that can’t just live, that can’t just exist. Shoplifting in a Kroger should not mean a death sentence.”
The topic of training also came up later Friday morning as Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 President Brian Steel addressed the media.
He told journalists he’s open to having people ride along with officers to see the work they do.
Before the shooting, a Kroger employee flagged down two officers in the parking lot, who were there on an unrelated matter, about multiple people fleeing from the store with stolen items. One of those people was Ta’Kiya, according to Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford.
Surveillance video from inside the Kroger shows Ta’Kiya appearing to take bottles of alcohol and put them in her bag. Outside the store, an employee flagged down Blendon Township officers, asking them to stop her.
Body camera footage shows officers confronting Ta’Kiya in her car. An officer can be heard telling her to get out of the vehicle. Moments later, as Ta’Kiya turns the steering wheel and accelerates with the officer standing in front of the car’s path, the officer fires a single shot.
A report says Ta’Kiya was 25 to 28 weeks pregnant when the shooting happened. Her unborn child did not survive.
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