AUTHORITIES IN THE US state of Ohio have released bodycam video showing a police officer fatally shooting Ta’Kiya Young in her car in what her family denounced as a “gross misuse of power and authority” against the pregnant black mother.
Sean Walton, a lawyer representing Young’s family, said the video clearly shows that the August 24 shooting of the 21-year-old was unjustified.
He called for the officer who shot her to be fired immediately and charged in connection with her death.
Walton also criticised police for not releasing the video footage until more than a week after the shooting.
“Ta’Kiya’s family is heartbroken,” he said.
“The video did nothing but confirm their fears that Ta’Kiya was murdered unjustifiably. Ta’Kiya and her young daughter were murdered unjustifiably and it was just heartbreaking for them to see Ta’Kiya having her life taken away under such ridiculous circumstances.”
The officer who shot Young is on paid administrative leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation examines the shooting, which is standard practice.
A message was left with the police union seeking comment on the family’s call for the officer’s dismissal and prosecution.
The names, races and ranks of the officer and a second officer who was on the scene have not been released.
The other officer has since returned to active duty.
In a statement, Blendon Township Police chief John Belford called the shooting a tragedy.
“Young’s family is understandably very upset and grieving” he said.
“While none of us can fully understand the depths of their pain, all of us can remember them in our prayers and give them the time and space to deal with this heartbreaking turn of events.”
Young’s death follows a troubling series of fatal shootings of black adults and children by Ohio police in recent years that have prompted protests and a demand for policy changes.
Young’s father, grandmother and other relatives watched the video before its public release and released a statement on Friday through Walton.
“It is undeniable that Ta’Kiya’s death was not only avoidable, but also a gross misuse of power and authority,” the statement said.
While viewing the video, the family felt “a lot of anger, a lot of frustration”, Walton said.
“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.”
The video shows an officer at the driver’s side window telling Young she had been accused of theft and repeatedly demanding that she get out of the car.
A second officer is standing in front of the car.
Young protests and the first officer repeats his demand.
Young then turns the steering wheel to her right and the car moves towards the officer standing in front of it.
He fires his gun through the windshield and Young’s car then drifts into the shop’s brick wall.
Officers then break the driver’s side window, which Belford said was to get Young out of the car and give medical aid, though footage of the medical assistance was not provided.
Walton said Young did not steal anything from the shop.
He said his firm has found a witness who saw Young put down bottles of alcohol as she left the shop.
“The bottles were left in the store,” he said.
“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.”
Responding to the criticism of the delay in releasing the video, Belford said it took time for his small staff to process it and properly redact certain footage, such as officers’ faces and badge numbers, in accordance with Ohio law.
He said the officers’ names cannot be released at this point because they are being treated as assault victims.
He said one of the officer’s arms was still partially in the driver’s side window and a second officer was still standing in front of the car when Young moved it forwards.
Young’s death is one of many fatal shootings of black adults and children by Ohio police in recent years.
Donovan Lewis was lying on his bed in August 2022 when he was shot by an officer serving a warrant.
Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl in foster care who was accused of swinging at two people with a knife, was fatally shot in April 2021, minutes before the guilty verdict was announced for the Minnesota police involved in the death of George Floyd.
In December 2020, Casey Goodson Jr was shot five times in the back by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy.
Young was expected to give birth to a daughter in November.
Family and friends held a private vigil a day after Young was killed, releasing balloons and lighting candles spelling out “RIP Kiya”.
An online effort to pay her funeral expenses has raised over 7,000 dollars (£5,563).
Young’s siblings, cousins, grandmother and father have rallied around her sons, six-year-old Ja’Kobie and three-year-old Ja’Kenlie, who do not yet understand the magnitude of what happened to their mother, Walton said.
“It’s a large family and Ta’Kiya has been snatched away from them,” he said.
“I think the entire family is still in shock.”
Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, described her granddaughter as a family-oriented prankster who was a loving older sister and mother.
“She was so excited to have this little girl,” the grandmother said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“She has her two little boys but she was so fired up to have this girl. She is going to be so missed.
“I’m a mess because it’s just tragic. But it should have never ever ever happened.”
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