Jurors in the trial of a Blendon Township police officer who fatally shot a 21-year-old pregnant woman accused of shoplifting heard a statement he gave to investigators saying he thought he would be thrown off the hood of a car or run over when he opened fire.
The written statement from officer Connor Grubb was read into the Franklin County Common Pleas Court record during the second day of testimony in his trial for the Aug. 24, 2023, shooting death of Ta’Kiya Young, who was about six months pregnant when she died.
The 31-year-old is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.
Jurors heard testimony Nov. 12 from Kyle Douglass, a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who spoke about the written statement he received from Grubb. Douglass served as the lead investigator into the shooting.
Special Prosecutor Richard Glennon had Douglass read Grubb’s multi-page statement. It’s unclear whether Grubb will take the stand in his defense.
In his written statement, Grubb said he approached the front of Young’s car, which was stationary in the parking lot of the Sunbury Road Kroger store, after Sgt. Erik Moynihan ordered Young to get out of her car. The officer said Young wasn’t complying, and while Grubb said he couldn’t hear the exact words, he believed Young was arguing with Moynihan based on her body language and tone of voice.
Grubb wrote that he positioned himself in front of Young’s car because he believed it was the best place, given that there were other people in the parking lot and Young’s car was not moving.
The statement says Grubb drew his weapon after seeing Young not comply with commands to get out of the car, and she drove toward him. Grubb wrote that he leaned forward, put his left hand on the car’s hood to brace himself and felt his feet come off the ground and his waist move onto the hood.
The statement says Grubb believed he was going to be either thrown off the hood of the car or run over.
“Instead of complying, she accelerated the car towards me,” Grubb wrote. “I tried to move to my right to avoid being struck, but the front bumper of the car hit my legs, shins.”
Douglass testified that, while watching the video from Grubb’s body camera, he could hear the wheels of Young’s car squealing as it moved forward and that the car accelerated toward Grubb at a “rapid speed.”
Under cross-examination from Grubb’s attorney Mark Collins, Douglass testified that he also saw a child with a shopping cart in the crosswalk of the store’s parking lot, in the path of Young’s car.
Collins asked Douglass about several witnesses in the parking lot the night of the shooting who prosecutors hadn’t called to explain what they saw. Those witnesses include Moynihan, the Kroger clerk, and Young’s sister, who was accused of shoplifting from the store along with her sister, but never faced charges.
Collins asked Douglass whether they would be considered important witnesses for jurors to hear from, given their vantage point. Douglass said, in his belief, they would be.
Douglass was one of four people to testify on Nov. 12. The other witnesses testified that Grubb’s firearm matched the shell casing found at the scene and about collecting Young’s clothes as evidence.
A total of 10 witnesses have been called to testify so far. Testimony will continue on Nov. 13.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: As Connor Grubb trial continues, jury hears statement from officer charged
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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