Opening statements set to begin in murder trial of former Columbus, Ohio, police officer who shot Andre Hill
Former Columbus
By Ashley R. Williams, CNN
(CNN) — Opening statements in the murder trial of a former Columbus, Ohio, police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Black man nearly four years ago are set to begin Thursday.
Adam Coy was fired from the Columbus Division of Police after fatally shooting Andre Maurice Hill, 47, only seconds after the two men encountered each other on December 22, 2020. The shooting sparked outrage in the Ohio community.
The shooting happened as Hill approached Coy holding an illuminated cell phone in his left hand, body camera footage shows.
Coy didn’t turn his body camera on until after the shooting, and the camera’s look-back feature captured a minute of video with no sound before Coy turned it on. Consequently, none of the conversation before or during the shooting is heard in the footage.
A grand jury indicted Coy in February 2021, and he was charged with murder in the commission of a felony, felonious assault and two counts of dereliction of duty – one based on Coy’s failure to use his body camera and one “based on his failure to inform his fellow officer that he felt Andre Hill presented a danger,” according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Coy has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The city of Columbus agreed in May 2021 to pay a $10 million settlement to Hill’s family, marking the highest amount the city has ever agreed to pay in such a case.
The trial, which began Monday with jury selection in Franklin County, Ohio, was postponed indefinitely in April 2023 while Coy underwent cancer treatment, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Shooting captured on body camera footage
Columbus police were responding to a non-emergency disturbance call in the early morning hours of December 22, 2020, according to the Columbus Department of Public Safety.
The body camera footage recorded with the look-back feature shows Hill walking from an opened garage toward Coy with his left hand holding an illuminated phone. His right hand is not visible.
Coy then appears to back up quickly, with his left hand holding a flashlight and his right hand holding a pointed firearm, the body camera footage shows.
After Coy turns on his camera, he can be heard panting and shouting commands at Hill, who is seen in distress on the ground near a parked car in the garage.
Body camera footage from Officer Amy Detweiler, who was at the scene during the shooting, shows Hill lying on the garage’s floor while in handcuffs.
An unidentified woman is seen coming out of the house and telling police, “He was bringing me Christmas money! He didn’t do anything.”
Detweiler said she heard Coy saying that he saw a gun and that Coy yelled, “There’s a gun in his other hand, there’s a gun in his other hand!” according to a report prepared by the Columbus police chief.
Hill died later that morning at a hospital. No weapon was found at the scene.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, representing Hill’s family, said Hill was visiting a family friend at the time of the shooting and was left “struggling for life for five minutes and 11 seconds.”
Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said after the shooting in 2020 he was “horrified by the time that passed before any officer provided aid” to Hill.
“Our officers are trained to provide potentially life-saving care, and at the very least, comfort in these situations,” Ginther said.
In February 2021, Hill’s family expressed gratitude for the grand jury’s indictment but added they want Coy to be convicted on all charges.
“We don’t want (Coy) to be charged and let go, as has been the past cases that we’ve seen – many times,” said Shawna Barnett, Hill’s sister. “We want him incarcerated.”
Hill’s death came three weeks after a legally armed Black man, Casey Goodson Jr., was shot and killed in Columbus by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy.
Both deadly shootings followed the outcry and protests earlier that year sparked by the death of George Floyd, as a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground for several minutes in May 2020.
CNN’s Laurie Ure, Jennifer Henderson, Sonia Moghe, Holly Yan, Melissa Alonso, Peter Nickeas, Madeline Holcombe, Amir Vera, Rebekah Riess, Ray Sanchez, Steve Forrest, Kristina Sgueglia and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
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