Ohio Police Fatally Shot 21-Year-Old Pregnant Black Woman Who Allegedly Stole Liquor

Police offi­cers in Ohio shot and killed a 21-year-old Black preg­nant woman, who was also the moth­er of 6‑year-old and 3‑year-old sons, out­side a Kroger store on Thursday. The police allege the woman stole liquor from the store and claim she tried to dri­ve over an offi­cer who got in front of her car. The woman, Ta’Kiya Young of Columbus, Ohio, was six months preg­nant and set to give birth in November. Young’s shoot­ing death is cur­rent­ly being inves­ti­gat­ed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the offi­cers respon­si­ble for it are cur­rent­ly on paid admin­is­tra­tive leave, Blendon Township police Chief John Belford con­firmed. The police depart­ment is expect­ed to release body cam­era footage of the inci­dent this week.

Young’s death comes after sev­er­al dis­turb­ing videos col­lect­ed from body cam­era footage showed Los Angeles-based cops bru­tal­iz­ing Black women, includ­ing one who was hold­ing her baby when an offi­cer appeared to punch her in the face, ear­li­er this year. Earlier this month, a Black woman in Detroit sued the local police depart­ment for arrest­ing and jail­ing her while she was eight months preg­nant over a facial recog­ni­tion error. Research from last year linked the ongo­ing threat of police vio­lence to wors­ened mater­nal out­comes for preg­nant Black women. Friends of Young’s described her to a local news sta­tion as “the life of the par­ty” and “a ball of ener­gy.” “Her per­son­al­i­ty is like sec­ond to none. So, she will tru­ly be missed for her per­son­al­i­ty. I know her kids will miss her, that’s the sad­dest part of all of it,” one friend said. “I just wish some­thing else could’ve been done to inter­vene with the situation.”