Ohio Mother Faces Life Sentence After Plowing Van Into Boyfriend, Killing Pedestrian

A young mother in Cincinnati is facing life in prison after plowing her van into her boyfriend and a pedestrian who died from his injuries.

Taah’viya Chapman, 24, was arrested late last month on two counts of felonious assault and one count of child endangering after intentionally plowing her van into two pedestrians, one being the father of her child, Fox 19 reported.

A murder charge was added to Chapman’s list of felonies September 1 after Christopher Scott Griffith, 58, died from injuries. Griffith was walking with the assistance of a cane to the store when he was hit by Chapman’s van.

Chapman had dropped her boyfriend, Jawon Lunsford, off at the Spring Grove Village Kroger on August 31, Fox 19 reported. While inside the store, Chapman went through Lunsford’s phone and found what she considered to be inappropriate text messages between her boyfriend and her sister, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said.

Chapman then used her van to hit Lunsford as he exited the store. Griffith happened to be walking outside the store.

Griffith later died from his injuries at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Lunsford’s leg was broken.

“She took this three-ton vehicle and plowed into him and plowed into Christopher Griffith, an innocent man on a cane walking across a crosswalk,” Deters said.

Video shows Chapman exiting the van after the act and running over to Lunsford. She then punches her boyfriend numerous times as their 8-month-old is in the car alone.

A grand jury added a child endangerment charge to Chapman’s long list of charges including aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and attempted murder.

While in court last week, documents surfaced that alleged Chapman previously lost custody of a 4Fox-year-old child that is now in the custody of her father. Her 8-month-old is in the custody of the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services.