COLUMBUS, OH – A Franklin County Court of Common Pleas jury Monday found former police officer Adam Coy guilty for fatally shooting Andre Hill Dec 22, 2020, according to ABC News.
Coy shot Hill, a 47-year-old African American man, four times after ordering him to exit a dark garage. Hill was unarmed, holding only a cell phone and a large set of keys at the time of the shooting, added ABC.
During the trial, Coy testified that he believed that Hill was “leveling a silver revolver at him,” and “(Coy) thought (he) was going to die.”
Although Coy turned on his body camera after the shooting, the camera’s “look-back function” captured the shooting. The week following the shooting, Coy was fired from the Columbus Police Department; in Jan 2021, he was arrested and indicted.
Anthony Pierson, a Franklin County prosecutor, told the jury that Coy’s use of deadly force was not justified and did not align with Coy’s training or “national police standards,” adding, “This case (is) about a man who was following police orders and was killed for it,” said the ABC News report.
Coy’s defense attorney, Mark Collins, rejected the state’s argument as “perverse (and) desperate.”
After two-and-a-half days of deliberation, the jury, ABC said, found Coy guilty on three counts — murder, felonious assault, and reckless homicide; he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole and, as per Judge Stephen L. McIntosh’s orders, will not be eligible for bond, ABC News said.
Benjamin Crump, the national civil rights attorney representing the Hill family, released this statement following the verdict: “This verdict delivers a measure of justice for Andre Hill’s family, who have waited nearly four years to see criminal accountability for his tragic and unnecessary death…today’s verdict underscores that no one is above the law, including those sworn to uphold it.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 25.
