Ohio police release bodycam footage in the shooting of 21-year-old pregnant woman, Ta’Kiya Young, who was pronounced dead along with her unborn child.
Young was expecting her third child when cops in Blendon Township, a suburb of Columbus, fatally shot her through the window of her car in a Kroger parking lot. Her unborn daughter also did not survive.
She allegedly shoplifted bottles of alcohol from Kroger grocery store. One officer went to the driver’s side of Young’s car and told her to stop and get out multiple times while the other officer went to the front of the vehicle. Young then put the car in gear and accelerated and it’s believed this is when the officer shot her.
Young can be heard on camera denying that she stole anything and arguing with the officers before driving away.
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The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is reviewing the Aug. 24 shooting and the officer who fired his gun remains on administrative leave, authorities said.
The officer’s name has not been made public. Attorneys representing the family have called for the officer who fired the shot to be identified.
“We demand accountability for the loss of two precious lives, Ta’Kiya and her unborn daughter,” the family’s attorney, said at a news conference Wednesday. “The officer of this department must be held accountable for his actions that escalated this encounter.”
Since her death, several vigils have been held in the community. Local activists and protest groups met at the Kroger store where the shooting took place.
“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.”
Young’s family 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.”
Source: New York Post, USA Today, AP News, Washington Post