A special agent read a two-year-old written statement from Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb into the record Wednesday during the second day of testimony in the officer's murder trial.
The testimony marked the first time the public has heard from Grubb since he shot and killed 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young at the Sunbury Road Kroger store in Aug. 2023. Grubb sat in the courtroom as Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations' Special Agent Kyle Douglass read Grubb's statement.
Young was accused of shoplifting liquor from the Kroger store when Grubb and another officer confronted her in her car. Grubb stepped in front of Young's vehicle, blocking her way, when she began to pull away and struck Grubb.
Young and her unborn child died after Grubb fired one shot through the windshield of Young's car.
Special prosecutors and Grubb's defense team questioned Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Kyle Douglass about the report. Grubb voluntarily wrote the statement following the shooting while other witnesses gave verbal interviews.
Douglass read Grubb's statement into the record.
"At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for my life as the suspect had just struck me with her vehicle. My feet were no longer on the ground and the top half of my body was on the hood of the car, of her car," Grubb wrote.
Grubb wrote that when the car hit him, his feet suddenly left the ground. In the statement, Grubb alleged in the moment that the car was veering to the right, appearing to slow down and later was "not moving very fast."
Grubb later claimed the car accelerated.
Grubb explained that he initially drew his weapon to provide "lethal cover" for the other officer, because Young was not complying with his orders to get out of her car.
Grubb said his target while shooting was Young's "center mass" and he only shot her once because he fell from the hood of her car.
"I do not believe I had any other reasonable alternative to protect my life from the suspect's actions. Once I realized the car was accelerating I tried to get out of the way, but the suspect's vehicle struck my legs/shin and lifted my feet off the ground and the suspect was trying to flee with me being carried on the hood of her car," Grubb wrote.
Grubb said he feared being seriously injured or killed by being thrown from the vehicle and run over.
Douglass also read follow up questions and answers he sent to Grubb and received back.
Grubb was asked whether Young was under arrest or free to leave. Grubb said Young wasn't free to leave and once she started disobeying his orders, she was under arrest.
Grubb and the other officer never stated that to Young.
Douglass also asked Grubb whether Young's vehicle was running or not. Grubb said he didn't recall, but when he stepped in front of Young's car, the vehicle was stationary and he believed it was in park.
The third and final question asked why Grubb was standing in front of Young's vehicle.
Grubb justified his actions by stating he positioned himself in front of the vehicle for three reasons.
- First, to convey to Young that she was in fact being detained and was not free to leave the scene.
- Second, to provide cover to the other officer, as he was positioned on the driver's side of the vehicle and Young was in the driver's seat. Grubb said he did not know if she had access to a weapon inside the vehicle, and if she did, he would need to provide lethal cover to the other officer.
- Third, Grubb said with the other officer on the driver's side and other civilians on the passenger's side, as well as other civilians in the busy parking lot, the front of the vehicle was the best position from a tactical standpoint to avoid crossfire.
Prosecutors also called witnesses, who examined Grubb's firearm and the minor injuries Grubb received to his arm, hand, knees and legs. Besides being hit by the car, Grubb smashed Young's window in to get her out of the vehicle and give her first aid, causing injuries to his arm and hand.
Grubb wasn't taken to the hospital for his injuries.
