By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -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 grocery store, attorneys 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 attorney 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 16 miles (26 km) 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. “We know the family of Ta’Kiya Young is grieving and their sorrow is real.”
After the verdict was read, Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, broke down in court, according to media accounts. “It’s not right. This is not right.”
The Young family attorney, Sean Walton, was not immediately available for comment.
Police body camera footage of the incident showed Grubb shooting Young on August 24, 2023, in a Kroger store parking lot as she started to drive her car while the officer was in front of the vehicle with a gun pointed at her.
Grubb’s attorney told the court that the officer feared for his life as the car moved forward while she ignored commands.
Erin Claypoole, a prosecuting attorney from Montgomery County who was brought in as special prosecutor in the case, told the jury earlier that Grubb knew his actions would cause harm to Young, ABC News reported.
Claypoole said that police protocols instruct officers to take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging a firearm, the network reported.
She was not immediately available on Friday for further comment.
Grubb has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker)
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