Lying in a clear casket, dressed in all pink, Ta’Kiya Young held the baby girl she would have given birth to this fall.
They were flanked by balloon teddy bears and the letters BWLM in gold, standing for Black Women’s Lives Matter.
About 200 people, most wearing white and pink (Young’s favorite color), gathered in the Church of Christ at Genessee Avenue in Linden for the funeral of the 21-year-old woman.
Young and her unborn daughter died Aug. 24 after a Blendon Township police officer shot Young through the windshield of her car in the Kroger parking lot at 5991 S. Sunbury Road. Based on a report from a store employee that Young allegedly shoplifted, police approached her four-door Lexus sedan and told her repeatedly to get out.
One officer stood next to the driver’s side window, speaking with Young, while the other officer, identified by Young’s family and their attorney as Connor Grubb, pulled his gun and stood in front of the vehicle. Body camera footage shows Young turned the steering wheel and the car moved forward, hitting the officer, who fired one fatal shot through the front windshield.
A celebration of life
The gathering Thursday was to celebrate Young’s life that was tragically cut short, Pastor Vincent Ford said.
Mourners cried, lifted their arms to the sky and called out “amen” during a service full of songs and speeches dedicated to God.
Sean Walton, an attorney for Young’s family, said during the funeral service that Young, a mother of two, and her unborn baby did not deserve to die.
“Black and brown people across this country deserve safety and protection,” Walton said. “Ta’Kiya’s children deserve justice so they know how much Ta’Kiya’s life mattered … Ta’Kiya’s family is going to have a fight ahead of them.”
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Young’s family has called for “swift justice” and the immediate arrest of Grubb, who they allege violated Blendon Police Department policy in the fatal shooting.
Rozetta Johnson, an elder in the church, delivered the eulogy: “You may not understand it now, but God will turn it around” and make purpose out of Young’s death.
Who was Ta’Kiya Young?
Ta’Kiya Monet’ Yvette Young was the mother of two sons, 6-year-old Ja’Kobie and 3-year-old Ja’Kenli. She was expecting a baby girl in November, her family said.
Young was born in Columbus. She had a passion for track and field in which she participated at Columbus City Schools’ Champion Middle School and Capital High School Bridgescape, according to her family.
“She was a sweet person,” said Danielle Rivers, Young’s other grandmother, after the funeral service. “She will be truly missed.”
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