Police Officer Charged with Murder in Andre Hill Case
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Former Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy will face charges of murder following the shooting of Andre Hill in December. On Wednesday, a Grand Jury indicted Coy on several charges, including murder, in the December 22 shooting of unarmed Hill. Hill was in a parking garage at the time of the shooting, and walked towards Coy while holding a cellphone in his hand at his side.
“The family of Andre Hill is relieved this morning. But they are not satisfied with an indictment of the police officer who killed Andre Hill as he held a cell phone walking out of a garage,” said family attorney Ben Crump. Hill’s fatal shooting drew swift media attention, as it was yet another case of a police officer killing an unarmed black man.
Coy was responding to a non-emergency call relating to an SUV in a parking garage. A concerned person had called in that an SUV was starting its engine repeatedly in the parking garage. When Coy arrived, he saw Hill walking towards him. Coy proceeded to fire his service weapon at Hill, striking him, and Hill dropped to the ground. Another officer who was at the scene reported that Coy shouted out that he believed Hill had a gun in his hand.
Immediately following the shooting, the other officer reports, Coy became distressed upon learning that the man was, in fact, unarmed. Coy turned on his body camera after the shooting, allowing it to record a sixty-second “look back” and then begin recording audio. The “look back” captures the shooting, but has no audio.
Hill died of his injuries on the scene. It took over five minutes for any of the officers present to administer aid to him. Following the incident, Coy would go on to be fired from the Columbus police department in late December. Speaking on the incident, Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan stated “I have seen everything I need to see to reach the conclusion that Officer Coy must be terminated immediately.”
His firing was met with approval from activists who have campaigned against police brutality. In the aftermath of the Summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, cases of police violence towards unarmed black men have received further scrutiny by the public.
It is unclear whether Coy will be convicted of the charges brought against him. However, he could face serious jail time if found guilty of murder. He is expected to enter a plea of “not guilty”.