Trial date set for Blendon Township police officer charged in pregnant woman's death

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  –  A Franklin County Common Pleas judge has issued a trial date for a Blendon Township police officer accused of killing a pregnant woman in a grocery store parking lot in 2023.

According to court records, Officer Connor Grubb is facing four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young and her unborn daughter.

On Wednesday, Grubb appeared in court for a brief session, in which Judge David Young set a trial date for July 14 of next year. Additionally, a status hearing was scheduled for Dec. 2 in the event representatives on both sides are able to reach a plea agreement.

Grubb turned himself in to authorities on Aug. 13 and was released on a $250,000 bond the following day, after he was indicted by a grand jury. The charges stem from an August 2023 incident in which officers attempted to question Young, who was caught on camera stealing several bottles of liquor from a Kroger in northeast Columbus.

Grubb, 29, and another officer were helping a person get into their locked car when a store employee flagged them down. The other officer yelled at Young multiple times to get out of her car as Grubb moved in front of it. She responded, “I didn’t steal s—,” and, “What, are you going to shoot me?” 

As Young began to move the car out of the parking spot, the bag of liquor bottles still over her shoulder, Grubb fired through the windshield as he fell onto the hood.

The car rolled until it hit the grocery store building. Body camera footage from the officers showed her foot still on the gas as they opened the door, as well as the full encounter with her beforehand and their attempts to keep her alive afterward until she was taken to a hospital, where she and the unborn child died.

Grubb said multiple times at the scene that Young “was going to run me over.”

An investigation began shortly after the shooting, and it concluded in December after Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck was appointed special prosecutor in the case. A decision was made to convene a grand jury, which indicted Grubb on 10 charges.