Ohio officer acquitted of murdering pregnant woman suspected of shoplifting

An Ohio policeman has been acquitted of murdering a pregnant woman he fatally shot in a supermarket car park.

Connor Grubb opened fire at Ta'Kiya Young as he and another officer told her to get out of a vehicle on suspicion of shoplifting alcohol on 24 August 2023.

Bodycam video shows her car rolling slowly towards Mr Grubb outside the Kroger store in a suburb of Columbus. In footage, she could be heard asking: "Are you going to shoot me?"

The jury unanimously found him not guilty of two counts of murder, two charges of felonious assault, and two counts involuntary manslaughter. Ms Young, 21, was around 25 weeks pregnant. Her unborn daughter also died.

Mr Grubb declined to testify at the trial, which featured 17 witnesses, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Sean Walton, a lawyer representing the Young family, called the verdict "an American tragedy", the Associated Press reported.

Ta'Kiya Young (left) and Connor Grubb

Bodycam video of the incident showed police approaching Ms Young in her car, on suspicion she had shoplifted from a Kroger grocery store.

The video shows two officers speaking with Ms Young.

In the video, her vehicle appears to drive toward an officer who then fires as he commands her to exit the car.

At the time, Mr Grubb's attorney argued his client had reason to believe he might be hit by a moving vehicle.

Over the course of the trial this month, jurors were asked to consider whether it was reasonable for Mr Grubb to have shot Ms Young in the course of his duties as a police officer.

The defence argued in closing arguments that Mr Grubb's actions were "objectively reasonable".

"The reaction of his use of force wasn't prompted because of the theft from the store," said attorney Mark Collins, according to Spectrum News.

"It was the car coming at him. It's just not that complicated, ladies and gentlemen."

Prosecutors, however, argued that his actions were unjustified.

"The state is not saying that the defendant woke up that morning and wanted to discharge his firearm," said county prosecutor Erin Claypoole.

"The state is saying when he made that decision, it was not a reasonable one, which means it was not a justified shooting."

In addition to her unborn child, Ms Young had two young children at the time of her death.

"It's been agony, it's been like a whirlwind of hurt and pain," Nadine Young, Ms Young's grandmother, said last year.