COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former police officer Adam Coy was convicted of murder on Monday for the 2020 fatal shooting of Andre Hill, a 47-year-old unarmed Black man. Hill was shot four times after Coy ordered him to emerge from a darkened garage while holding a cellphone and a set of keys.
The verdict was reached after two-and-a-half days of deliberation in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. In addition to murder, the jury also found Coy guilty of felonious assault and reckless homicide.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, representing Hill’s family, expressed relief at the verdict, emphasizing that it provides a sense of justice for Hill’s family. “No one is above the law, including those sworn to uphold it,” Crump said.
During the trial, Coy claimed that he feared for his life, mistakenly believing Hill was holding a silver revolver. However, the object Hill was holding turned out to be a set of silver keys. Coy’s emotional testimony of fearing for his life was met with skepticism.
Coy was fired from the Columbus Police Department a week after the shooting and was arrested in January 2021. Body camera footage from the incident revealed that after the shooting, Hill lay dying while officers failed to administer immediate first aid, and a woman at the scene testified that Hill was a guest at the home.
Prosecutors argued that Coy’s actions were unjustified, pointing out that Hill was following police orders at the time of his death. “This is about a man who was following police orders and was killed for it,” said Franklin County prosecutor Anthony Pierson.
Coy faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, with sentencing scheduled for November 25. The case has garnered national attention, highlighting issues of police accountability. Additionally, in May 2021, the City of Columbus paid $10 million in a wrongful death settlement to Hill’s family, the largest settlement in the city’s history.
The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which mandates that officers activate body cameras when responding to calls and immediately provide first aid in cases of use-of-force incidents.