An Ohio police officer who fatally shot a Black man in a garage was convicted of murder on Monday.
Adam Coy, 48, was found guilty of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide for fatally shooting Andre Hill on Dec. 22, 2020, in the state capital of Columbus.
Hill was holding a cellphone and a key ring when he was killed. Coy testified that he thought Hill was holding a gun in his right hand when he opened fire, but it was only Hill’s keys.
Prosecutors said Hill followed all of Coy’s instructions during the interaction, but Coy killed him anyway.
“We’re taught do what the cops tell you to do and you can survive that encounter,” Franklin County assistant prosecutor Anthony Pierson said in closing arguments last week. “That’s not what happened here.”
Coy faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the killing. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Nov. 25, and he was taken into custody after the verdict was read. Coy had previously been free on bail, though Columbus police fired him shortly after the killing.
The encounter began when Coy responded to a non-emergency call about a car idling on and off in front of a house for hours. The driver, Hill, told Coy he was waiting for someone at the house and then walked up and knocked on the door.
After no one answered, Hill walked into the garage. Coy approached the garage and ordered Hill to exit. As Hill lifted his left hand to display the phone, Coy said he couldn’t see Hill’s right hand and then yelled, “Gun, gun, he has a gun!”
Coy fired four shots, fatally striking Hill, who did not have a gun. Nearly 10 minutes passed before Coy or his partner rendered medical aid to Hill, but that information was not part of Coy’s murder trial.
With News Wire Services
