ON Friday, Blendon Township Police Department released body cam footage of the fatal shooting of a pregnant Black woman named Ta’kiya Young.
Young was 7 months pregnant at the time she died.
The 21-year-old allegedly stole bottles of alcohol from a grocery store on the 24th of August.
Police Officer 2 who had just finished with a nearby car accident is on the scene and also tries to help unlock the citizen’s car.
As Officer Number 2 is working, a Kroger employee approaches him from behind and points to a woman getting into a car.
The Kroger employee tells Officer 2 that the woman getting into the Black Lexus has just stolen things from the store.
Officer number 2 quickly approaches the Lexus and attempts to talk to the suspect.
He repeatedly tells her to stop and get out of the running car.
Officer 1 appears to notice what his colleague is doing and walks over to assist.
As Officer 2 continues to loudly tell the driver to get out of the car, Officer 1 walks past him briskly and moves around to the front of the car.
19 seconds into the encounter, the suspect rolls her window down a few inches and asks why she’s being stopped.
Officer 2 tells her that a Kroger employee has accused her of stealing.
Ohio law requires everyone to comply with a lawful order of a police officer.
Officer number 1 draws his firearm and again loudly orders the woman to stop the car.
In the next second, the driver steps on the gas and moves forward.
At this moment, Officer 1 fires a single shot through the windshield.
Officer 1 is then able to slide off the hood of the moving car as it rolls towards the building. Officers run to keep up with the moving car.
When the car stopped, they acted quickly to get the driver out of the car.
In response to the incident, the family of Ta’kiya Young has released a statement through their attorneys saying Ta’kiya’s death was avoidable and a gross misuse of power and authority, and that Ta’kiya and her unborn daughter were robbed of their life in this “hateful act”.
“It is undeniable that Ta’kiya’s death was not only avoidable, but also a gross misuse of power and authority. As if the pain of losing Ta’kiya isn’t enough, we must grapple with the knowledge that her unborn daughter was also robbed of her life in this hateful act,” statement of Ta’kiya Young’s family.
The statement adds that the family demands a swift indictment of the officer for the killing of both Ta’kiya and her unborn daughter.
“After seeing the video footage of her death, this is clearly a criminal act and the family demands a swift indictment of this officer for the killings of both Ta’kiyah and her unborn daughter,” statement of ta’kiya young’s family
Meanwhile, according to a statement from Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford, the officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave while the other officer who was at the scene at the time of the incident was also placed on administrative leave “out of an abundance of caution”.
Neither of the police officers were named.
