Ohio police release bodycam footage of fatal shooting of pregnant shoplifting suspect

Blendon Township has released body camera footage Friday morning from the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young.

The footage is from both of the body cameras of the officers who were involved in the shooting, which happened around 6:20 p.m. Aug. 24 in the parking lot of the Kroger at 5991 S. Sunbury Road.

Young, who was pregnant at the time of her death, was shot once and died at Mount Carmel St. Ann's a short time later from her injuries. The child she was carrying, which her family has said was a daughter due in November, did not survive.

Blendon Township previously said Young and several other people shoplifted items from the store, including liquor, after which a store employee flagged down officers who were in the parking lot on an unrelated call.

Ta'Kiya Young shooting:Pregnant woman suspected of shoplifting alcohol shot dead by police in Ohio

In the video, a store employee can be heard telling an officer that Young, who got into a car parked caddy-corner to where the officer was trying to help someone locked out of their vehicle, had shoplifted. The officer goes to Young's driver's side window, which is rolled up, and tells her to stop and get out of the car, while gesturing with his hand to get out of the vehicle.

Young partially rolls down the window and says "For what?" as she has a bag over her left shoulder, which blocks her stomach from view of the officer. The second officer approaches the front of Young's vehicle as the first officer continues to tell her to get out of the car.

The video shows Young driving forward, hitting the second officer, whose feet are seen off the ground when he fires a single shot through the windshield. Young's vehicle continues moving forward until it hit the building.

Officers are seen on the video immediately breaking Young's driver side window to get her out of the vehicle.

Blendon Township Chief John Belford said in a statement Friday that within 10 seconds of getting Young out of her vehicle, officers called for paramedics. Within 70 seconds, a chest seal was being applied to Young's wound and within 90 seconds, an emergency room doctor who was in the parking lot at the time began helping police in treating Young.

The Franklin County Coroner's office declined to disclose where Young was hit, although in a statement Friday, Chief John Belford said officers applied a chest seal to Young's wound, indicating she was shot in the chest.

Blendon Township has not named either officer, citing Marsy's Law, which aims to protect crime victims but has been cited by police agencies as the reason they can't release the names of officers involved in such situations.

In a statement on Friday, the department said the first officer, who was not involved in the shooting itself, had his arm and hand inside the driver's window when Young accelerated, making him a victim of misdemeanor assault. The second officer, who fired his weapon, was struck by the vehicle and a victim of attempted vehicular assault, the statement said.

The department declined to tell The Dispatch how many years either officer has worked there, saying that doing so would effectively identify them, due to the size of the department. Of the department's 15 officers, the one with the least amount of experience has worked there for three years.

On Friday, Belford said the officer who was not involved in the shooting has returned from administrative leave and is back on patrol duty.

Police said Young was already in the vehicle when officers approached, and they were not aware she was pregnant.

Young's family, through their attorney, have expressed that the body camera footage would not be released sooner than Friday. The family will have the opportunity to view the video before it is released to the public. Young's family has also called for the officers involved in the shooting to be named, saying the use of Marsy's Law to not release the names is an overreach and abuse of the law.

After viewing the video Friday morning at Blendon Township government offices, Young's family had no comment.

Chanda Brown, one of the attorneys representing the family, said the video speaks for itself.

She said she didn’t see any justification for the shooting.

"I saw a young woman get killed," Brown said.

Asked if the family would like to see charges brought against the officer, Brown said they wanted to see all the justice they could fight for.

"They’re obviously upset and devastated," Brown said.

Belford said in a statement Friday that redacting the video was "extremely complex."

"Due to the fact that there were two body cameras that were constantly in motion and there were numerous reflective surfaces showing the faces of the two officers, redaction was extremely complex," he said. "This, combined with the legal review, took a great deal of time for our small department."

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner