State investigators have wrapped up their investigation into the fatal police shooting of a pregnant Black woman accused of shoplifting from a Blendon Township Kroger. Now the case will go before a grand jury to decide if any charges should be brought against the officer who shot her.
Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb shot Ta'Kiya Young, 21, on Aug. 24, after he and another officer confronted Young inside her car. In body camera footage released in October, Grubb approached Young's car and within seconds, Young tried pulling away from the scene and her car pushed Grubb. Grubb fired one shot through the windshield, striking Young in the chest. Young and her unborn child died the same day at St. Ann's Hospital.
The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office told WOSU the office sent the case to Montgomery County, which assigned two special prosecutors to review the case against Grubb.
Franklin County First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Janet Grubb, who is not related to the officer, said the case will still go before a grand jury in Franklin County to decide whether to bring charges against Connor Grubb.
"The people who will sit in judgment of whether or not to indict Officer Grubb will be Franklin County grand jurors. The only difference will be is that there will be two assistant prosecuting attorneys who normally try cases in Montgomery County," Janet Grubb said.
Janet Grubb identified Connor Grubb to WOSU as the officer in the case. For months, Blendon Township Police have refused to identify Connor Grubb, citing Marsy's Law, which is meant to protect the rights of crime victims.
The Blendon Township case received national attention as one of the latest police shootings of an unarmed person. Young's family hired civil rights attorney Sean Walton to represent them in future potential litigation.
Montgomery County spokesperson Greg Flannagan told WOSU in an email County Prosecutor Mat Heck and Assistant Prosecutors Jennifer Buschur and Richard Glennon are the special prosecutors assigned to the case. Flannagan said since this is a pending case there is not much further information he could share.
"They have just recently received the reports and discovery and are in the process of reviewing everything," Flannagan said.
In return for Montgomery County's services, Grubb said Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Dan Cable and Sheryl Prichard are the special prosecutors who will review another fatal police shooting from last year. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers fatally shot a couple after a multi-hour standoff and hostage situation in Montgomery County.
Police said on Aug. 2, Elaine Helman, 51, and her husband Rodney Helman, 54, stole a semi truck and took the driver hostage. The two led officers on a multi-county chase across multiple counties beginning in Madison County and ending on I-70 near the Dayton International Airport.
Grubb did not say how long it might take for the two offices to review the two cases. She said these swaps are standard procedure and the two offices have a good relationship with each other.
"(These cases) are very labor intensive. They take a lot of review, because there's a lot of body worn camera. There's cruiser video, there's surveillance video, there's multiple witnesses," Grubb said.
