Testimony concluded Tuesday in the murder trial for Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb.
The defense and prosecution attorneys rested their cases after calling their final two witnesses. The two witnesses were both use of force experts, whose opinions differed on whether Grubb was justified for fatally shooting 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young in August 2023.
After the testimony concluded, Judge David Young, who is unrelated to Ta'Kiya Young, decided to dismiss four charges against Grubb for killing Young's unborn child. The remaining charges against Grubb for killing Young herself remain, including murder, felonious assault and involuntary manslaughter.
Closing arguments and the start of jury deliberation could both begin on Wednesday.
The defense and prosecution went through each experts' analyses of body camera and surveillance video from the scene, established law on police use of force and through the Blendon Township Police Department's internal policy, which states, "When feasible, officers should take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle or any of its occupants."
Grubb was in the parking lot of the Sunbury Road Kroger store when a second officer was told by a Kroger employee Young had just shoplifted liquor. Surveillance video showed Young leaving the store with the liquor bottles.
The second officer, Sgt. Erik Moynihan, confronted Young on the driver's side of her Lexus Sedan and ordered her to get out of the vehicle. Moynihan knocked on Young's window and said "Hey, stop" and "get out of the car." Young rolled down her window and asked "for what," to which the officer said, "They said you stole stuff. Do not leave."
Young replied "I didn't steal s**t. The other girls were taking..." The officer began hitting Young's partially open window and Young said, "Are you going to shoot me?"
Grubb stepped in front of Young's vehicle and pulled out his gun, telling Young to "get out of the ****ing car."
Within seconds, Young turned on her turn signal and began turning her steering wheel away from Grubb, and slowly accelerated forward. She appeared to strike Grubb with her vehicle.
Grubb shot Young through her windshield once, killing her and her unborn child.
Kevin Davis was the defense's expert. Davis is a former Akron Police officer who trains cadets in Ohio.
Davis said he didn't think Grubb violated law or police department policy by stepping in front of Young’s vehicle. He said Grubb was justified in shooting Young.
Davis argued Young committed felonious assault, which then elevated the theft she allegedly committed to aggravated burglary. Young was also not complying with orders from Moynihan and Grubb to get out of her car.
"We have felony crimes including crime of violence and severity. We have an immediate threat by driving into the police officer and we have a subject that was actively resisting arrest or detention," Davis said.
During cross examination, prosecutors pointed to Blendon Township's policy, which states the officer should take reasonable steps to move out of the way of a moving vehicle before discharging their weapon.
Davis argued it wasn't feasible for Grubb to do so.
Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina policing and public safety professor, testified Tuesday. Stoughton has testified on behalf of the prosecution in police trials in Columbus for Adam Coy and Jason Meade. Coy was convicted in Nov. 2024 on charges of murder, reckless homicide and felonious assault in the 2020 shooting death of Andre Hill. Meade was charged with murder in the shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in Dec. 2020. A judge declared a mistrial in that case in Feb. 2024.
Stoughton also testified in Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's trial in 2020. Chauvin was convicted in the death of George Floyd.
Stoughton was extremely critical of Grubb's actions. He said Grubb stepping in front of Young's car was against police policy.
"That was tactically unsound. It was unreasonable. It is unjustified risk taking under the circumstances, and it is a position that is foreseeably likely to contribute to an officer-involved shooting," Stoughton said.
Stoughton criticized Grubb for drawing his firearm after he stepped in front of Young's vehicle.
"That decision to draw his firearm and then use deadly force as opposed to moving out from in front of the vehicle where he had put himself is also just professionally inappropriate and not consistent with generally-accepted practices," Grubb said.
Stoughton was asked about the concept of "officer-created jeopardy," which is the idea that Grubb caused the situation to escalate by putting himself in that position. Stoughton said placing yourself in front of a car is generally not a good idea.
"Don't. It's very straightforward. Vehicles can run you over. They can hit you, they can drag you and that's a capital "B" bad thing," Stoughton said.
Stoughton said it is acceptable for an officer to let a suspect go and apprehend them at a later time. This would have been difficult for the Blendon Township officers because Young didn't have a visible license plate on her vehicle.
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens tried to discredit Stoughton by citing anonymous, negative ratings on the website "Rate My Professor." The website itself states it can't verify every entry and relies on users agreeing to terms of use.
One of the posts Stephens cited was after the high-profile Chauvin trial concluded in 2021. Stoughton pointed out inconsistencies with the ratings, including the ratings citing classes that he never taught.
"Professor Stoughton is a politically charged narcissist," one entry said.
One entry said the anonymous reviewer received an "A+" in Stoughton's class. Stoughton said this isn't a grade the University of South Carolina even gives out.
Special prosecutors tried to object twice to Stephens using these reviews.
"These are just random comments found on the internet by unidentified people. This is not appropriate," Prosecutor Richard Glennon said.
Judge Young allowed the questions to move forward.
