US policeman found not guilty of murdering pregnant black woman Ta’Kiya Young

An Ohio jury found a white police officer not guilty of murder on Friday in the 2023 fatal shooting of a pregnant black woman suspected of shoplifting from a supermarket, lawyers in the case and court records said.

Connor Grubb, an officer with the Blendon Township Police Department, was also cleared of involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault charges in the death of Ta’Kiya Young, Grubb’s lawyer Mark Collins said.

The case drew national attention because of the circumstances and has become part of a broader debate over police using excessive force against black people and other minorities.

Young, 21, died at a hospital a short time after the shooting, which took place in a community about 26km (16 miles) northeast of Columbus.

A judge had previously dropped initial charges against Grubb in the death of the unborn child, saying he could not have known she was pregnant, court records show.

“While this was the right and just outcome, it doesn’t change the fact that a young woman and her unborn baby died,” Collins said.