Former Ohio officer to stand trial in 2020 for shooting black man

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A white former Ohio police officer is scheduled to stand trial Monday in the killing of Andre Hill, an unarmed black man who was shot to death nearly four years ago as he emerged from a garage holding a cellphone.

Officer Adam Coy, a 17-year veteran of the Columbus Police Department, fatally shot Hill while responding to a neighbor’s noise complaint. Coy, who was fired after the shooting on December 22, 2020, pleaded not guilty to murder, voluntary manslaughter and related offenses. Coy’s attorney, Mark Collins, said the officer thought he saw Hill with a silver revolver in his right hand.

Jury selection in his trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

Coy had gone to the neighborhood to investigate a resident’s complaint about the noise of a moving car when he encountered Hill.

Police body camera footage showed Hill emerging from the garage of a friend’s home holding a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy. His right hand was not visible. About 10 minutes passed before officers on scene began to come to the aid of Hill, who lay bleeding on the garage floor. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Weeks after the shooting, the mayor forced the police chief out of office amid a series of high-profile fatal police shootings of black men and children. Columbus later agreed to a $10 million settlement with Hill’s family, the largest in the city’s history. The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to provide immediate medical aid to an injured suspect.

According to his personnel file, Coy has a long history of complaints from residents, with more than three dozen filed against him since he joined the department in 2002. A dozen of the complaints involved use of force. All but a few were deemed “unsubstantiated” or “not sustained.”

Coy’s legal team unsuccessfully attempted to move the case out of Columbus, citing widespread publicity. A message was left for Collins, the defense attorney, before the trial.

Hill, a father and grandfather, was known for his devotion to family and as an experienced chef and restaurant manager who dreamed of owning his own restaurant.