A 21-year-old pregnant woman was shot dead by police officers in suburban Ohio last week, after she allegedly stole alcohol from the supermarket.
Ta’Kiya Young was pregnant with her third child when police in Blendon Township, a Columbus suburb, fatally shot her through her car window in a Kroger parking lot. Her unborn daughter did not survive.
In a video Friday, Police Chief John Belford said Young and several others had shoplifted from the Kroger store before the fatal shooting.
He said two officers were in the parking lot that night helping someone with car trouble, when a store employee approached them and said Young had stolen multiple bottles of liquor from the store.
The employee allegedly later told police there were several other people who had stolen items, but they had fled in another vehicle.
By the time the two officers reached Young, Belford said, he was already inside his four-door sedan. One officer then stepped to the driver’s side while another stood in front of the vehicle as he told Young to get out of the car and turn it off.
Ta’Kiya Young, 21, was shot and killed Thursday by police officers in Blendon Township, Ohio.Courtesy of Ta’Kiya Young’s family
Police say Young stole several bottles of alcohol from a Kroger, and refused officers’ requests to get out of his car.WBNS 10TV
But Belford said the demands were ignored, and Young instead sped the car straight at the officer standing in front of him.
In response, he fired a shot through the window.
Police then chased the car for nearly 50 feet, Belford said, before it jumped a curb and crashed into a brick wall and pole outside a grocery store.
When officers finally approached the car, Belford said, they found it locked, so they broke the window to get Young out of the vehicle and began administering medical aid.
A pedestrian also happened to be an emergency room doctor, who assisted the police until paramedics arrived and took Young to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The incident is being investigated by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the two officers involved are on paid leave.
Authorities say Young was already in his four-door sedan, and sped off at an officer who was standing in front of him.WBNS 10TV
Body camera footage from the encounter is expected to be released on Friday.
“Every loss of life is a tragedy,” Belford said in his video statement. “The family of the deceased woman is understandably disappointed. I have spoken to family members, and I will continue to inform them of what happened.”
News of Young’s death has sparked outrage in the suburban town, where local activists and protest groups are demanding justice and accountability.
“It’s sickening to know that a police officer would kill a pregnant woman and her unborn child,” NAACP-Columbus president Nana Watson told FOX 28.
Young’s grandmother and others claim the shooting was unjustified.
“He stole something from the store,” Nadine Young, Ta’Kiya’s grandmother who raised him, told the Columbus Dispatch. “You don’t have to shoot the woman; he will finally get out of the car. You don’t have to kill her and the baby.”
Malissa Thomas-St. Clair, co-founder of the anti-violence group Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, added during a vigil for the slain mother of two: “Young people make mistakes, but because I made mistakes, I should learn from them and not die from them.
“When I heard that shoplifting now equals losing your life — and you’re pregnant? That is reprehensible.”
Friends comfort each other at a private candlelight vigil for Young and her unborn daughter.AP
Sandriana McBroom (right) and Makhiya Mcbroom (center) light candles that spell out “RIP Kiya” at a vigil Friday.AP
The shooting happened just days after Young’s grandmother called authorities saying the 21-year-old violated a protective order by showing up at her home, according to court records obtained by the Dispatch.
Young left before police arrived, but a misdemeanor charge of violating a protective order was filed after Nadine filled out a witness statement.
She now says she’s just focused on building a support network for Young’s sons, ages 3 and 6.
“We will all gather [her sons], and be a village for them,” said Nadine to the outlet. “Keeping them safe, getting them into school, and keeping them focused and not making them hate the police. I don’t want them to grow up like that.”
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