Ex-Ohio police officer found guilty in 2020 shooting death of unarmed Black man Andre Hill
· UPINov. 4 (UPI) -- A jury in Ohio on Monday found former Columbus police officer Adam Coy guilty in the 2020 shooting death of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man.
Coy, 48, was found guilty of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the murder of Hill, 47.
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Common Pleas Court Judge Stephen L. McIntosh announced the verdict at about noon local time and immediately revoked Coy's $1 million bond. Coy then was taken into custody.
Coy will see a Nov. 25 sentencing date and faces a possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Coy fatally shot 47-year-old Andre Hill on Dec. 22, 2020, while responding to a call concerning a suspicious vehicle repeatedly being turned on and off outside of a Columbus residence.
Closing arguments were on Wednesday and the Ohio jury began deliberations on Thursday and Friday before reaching its decision Monday.
"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," prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the Hill family, said in a statement.
Hill, according to Crump, was "an unarmed, innocent man, and his life was taken with disregard for the duty to protect and serve."
The 19-year police force veteran claimed he saw a gun in Hill's right hand that turned out to be a set of keys and a cell phone.
No weapon was found at the scene.
"I thought I was going to die," Coy testified last week.
"This case isn't about someone who is resisting arrest, where officers pile on him, put a knee on him or something like that and he died," Franklin County prosecutor Anthony Pierson told the 12-person jury. "This case is not about someone who tells cops, 'I hate you. I'm going to shoot you,' It's not about that. It's about a man who was following police orders and was killed for it."
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In early February 2021, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that Coy had been charged with murder.
A grand jury indictment followed a federal investigation into the officer-involved shooting that included a review of body-worn cameras, cyber data and the interviewing of the involved officers.
Coy was fired in the days following the shooting and amid public uproar as Hill's death came weeks after a police officer fatally shot 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. in the doorway of his home on Dec. 4 that same year.
The City of Columbus in May 2021 agreed to pay a $10 million wrongful death settlement with Hill's family, which represented the highest dollar figure ever paid by Ohio's capital city.
Crump added he hoped the verdict will "bring some healing" to the victim's family and it "send a powerful message: accountability in law enforcement is not optional."
Monday's verdict "underscores that no one is above the law, including those sworn to uphold it," said Crump.