Financial strains have forced the Blendon Township Board of Trustees to shift Officer Connor Grubb from paid to unpaid administrative leave. Grubb is facing murder and other charges stemming from the August 2023 fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young, who was pregnant at the time. The move was announced Wednesday, after a recent failure of a police levy put the township in a serious budgetary bind.
The board's statement explained that the failed levy has placed Blendon Township under considerable financial stress, necessitating harsh budget cuts that could potentially result in laying off numerous police officers. According to a statement obtained by ABC6 News, "We cannot justify keeping an officer on paid leave while simultaneously being forced to reduce our active police force." Grubb has been a full-time officer since 2019 and was on paid leave since the indictment until this recent update to his employment status.
Jury selection for Grubb's trial is scheduled to begin on October 30, with the actual trial likely to start on November 3. He has been charged with four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the death of Young and her unborn daughter. The Columbus Dispatch reported that a Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb, who maintains a stance of not guilty to the charges.
Despite Grubb's shift to unpaid leave, the board made it clear that the decision was purely budget-driven and not reflective of his guilt or innocence. "While we continue to uphold that Officer Grubb is presumed innocent until proven guilty and await access to critical evidence from the independent BCI Investigation to make a fair decision regarding his employment, we cannot justify keeping an officer on paid leave while simultaneously being forced to reduce our active police force," the board stated in a WBNS report. The law firm Walton and Brown, representing Ta'Kiya Young's family, has criticized the township's decision.
