Footage from fatal police shooting of pregnant woman will be released Friday, police chief says
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- Footage showing a confrontation between a pregnant woman and police that led to her being fatally shot outside a grocery store last week won't become public until Friday, Blendon Township police said.
A statement Wednesday from Chief John Belford said the body camera footage of Ta'kiya Young, 21, will become public only after it is shown to her family that morning.
"We spoke to the family’s attorney on Wednesday, and I am appreciative of his help coordinating with the family during this difficult time,” Belford said.
The family's attorney is Sean Walton, and called a news conference for noon on Wednesday. You can watch him live on NBC4i.com and the NBC4 news app. The shooting led to a large protest where it took place, a Kroger on Sunbury Road, with some 100 people showing up Sunday.
The shooting took place about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, with police saying that Young and others stole were noticed by store employees stealing alcohol.
The others left and drove away, but Young was parked in a spot in front of the store in a Lexus sedan with no license plate. An officer approached the driver’s side and another the front of the car, telling Young to exit the vehicle “more than a dozen times,” which she did not do, Belford said.
Belford said Young then put the car in gear and drove forward toward the officer “directly in the path of the oncoming car.” The officer shot through the front windshield. The car stopped about 50 feet away, on the sidewalk outside the store.
Officers and a “passing ER doctor” rendered aid to Young, who later died at St. Ann’s Hospital, Belford said.
Young had a warrant out for her arrest dated Aug. 21 related to a misdemeanor charge of violating a protection order or consent agreement, Franklin County court records showed. And Belford said she had “previously been charged with crimes involving theft and fleeing from police,” although he did not detail those charges.
The two officers involved have been placed on leave pending an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.