Blendon Township, Ohio – Police authorities in Ohio released body camera footage Friday showing a police officer fatally shooting a pregnant black woman in her car in self-defense.
The woman’s angry family, however, wants this unnamed officer fired and criminally charged anyway.
As Fox News reported, Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old mother of two kids and pregnant with a third, went to a Kroger in the suburb of Blendon Township on Aug. 24, but she never returned after she was suspected of shoplifting bottles of alcohol. Police approached Young outside the store and she was ultimately shot dead in the parking lot. Her unborn daughter did not survive the ordeal either.
The video opens with retired Sheriff Russ Martin introducing himself and making clear he will not be a making a judgement whether the officer was justified in his actions. He proceeds to narrate the events that occurred that fateful day.
The footage shows an officer at the driver’s side window telling Young she has been accused of stealing and repeatedly requesting that she get out of the vehicle. A second officer is standing in front of the car with his gun drawn.
Young, however, refuses to obey the officer’s commands. She can also be heard shouting “What? Are you going to shoot me?”
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The woman then puts the car in gear and slams the accelerator. The police officer directly in front of the vehicle is hit and dragged for several feet.
Fearing for his personal safety, the cop fires a single shot through the windshield in self-defense. The car moves approximately 50 additional feet according to Fox News before stopping in front of the Kroger.
The two officers break into the vehicle, retrieve a mortally wounded Young, and begin to render medical assistance. Fox News notes an emergency room doctor on scene also helped.
Their assistance was of no avail because Young passed away at St. Ann’s Hospital.
Young’s family criticized the actions by the police in a statement through their attorney Sean Walton. They called the shooting “avoidable” and “a gross misuse of power and authority.”
Ta’Kiya’s family is heartbroken. The video did nothing but confirm their fears that Ta’Kiya was murdered unjustifiably and it was just heartbreaking for them to see Ta’Kiya having her life taken away under such ridiculous circumstances.
It is undeniable that Ta’Kiya’s death was not only avoidable, but also a gross misuse of power and authority. While viewing the video, the family felt “a lot of anger, a lot of frustration.
More than anything, there was a sense of just devastation, to know that this power system, these police officers, could stop her and so quickly take her life for no justifiable reason.
Walton, speaking for the family, also told the AP the officer must be fired and arrested.
He also denied Young had stolen any items.
The bottles were left in the store. So when she’s in her car denying that, that’s accurate. She did not commit any theft, and so these officers were not even within their right to place her under arrest, let alone take her life.
