Last week, police shot and killed a 21-year-old pregnant woman in an Ohio suburb after she allegedly stole wine from a grocery.
Ta’Kiya Young was expecting her third child when she was tragically shot through the window of her car in a Kroger parking lot by cops in Blendon Township, a suburb of Columbus. Her unborn child did not live.
Police Chief John Belford stated in a video released on Friday that Young and many others had stolen from the Kroger store before to the fatal shooting.
He stated that two cops were in the parking lot that night assisting someone with automobile troubles when a store employee came them and informed them that Young had stolen many bottles of booze from the store.
Employees allegedly told police that there were several additional people stealing stuff, but they had already escaped in different vehicles.
Belford stated that by the time the two officers arrived at Young, she was already in her four-door vehicle. One officer then moved over to the driver’s side, while the other stood in front of the vehicle, instructing Young to evacuate and turn off the vehicle.
But, according to Belford, those orders were ignored, and Young instead accelerated the automobile directly at the officer in front of it.
He responded by firing a single round through the window.
Belford said police chased the car for approximately 50 feet before it jumped a curb and smashed into a brick wall and columns outside the supermarket store.
When authorities eventually approached the car, they discovered it was locked, so they busted through a window to get Young out and began providing emergency help, according to Belford.
A bystander was also an emergency room doctor, who supported police until paramedics came and brought Young to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The incident is under investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the two officers involved are on paid leave.
“Every loss of life is a tragedy,” Belford said in his video statement. “The family of the woman who died is understandably upset. I’ve spoken with a member of the family, and I will continue to keep them informed about what’s happening.”
News of Young’s death has caused outrage in the suburban town, where local activists and protest groups are demanding justice and accountability.
“It was nauseating to learn 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 have claimed the shooting was not justified.
“She stole something from the store,” Nadine Young, Ta’Kiya’s grandmother who raised her, told the Columbus Dispatch. “You didn’t have to shoot the woman; she would have eventually gotten out of the car. You didn’t have to kill her and the baby.”
Malissa Thomas-St. Clair, the co-founder of the anti-violence group Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, added at a vigil for the slain mother of two: “Young people make mistakes, but because I make mistakes, I should learn from them and not die from them.
“When I’m hearing that shoplifting now equates with losing your life — and you’re pregnant? That deserves outrage.”
According to court papers obtained by the Dispatch, the shooting occurred only days after Young’s grandmother called officials to report that the 21-year-old was breaching a protective order by showing up at her home.Young fled before authorities arrived, but when Nadine wrote out a witness statement, a misdemeanor charge of breaking a protection order was filed.
She now says she is just focusing on building a support network for Young’s sons, ages 3 and 6.
“We’re all going to be rallying around [her sons], and be the village for them,” Nadine told the outlet. “Taking care of them, getting them into school, and keeping them focused and not having them hate the police. I don’t want them growing up like that.”
