COLUMBUS, Ohio — The trial of a former Columbus police officer who shot and killed a man in a garage nearly four years ago is set to begin on Monday.
Adam Coy is charged with murder, reckless homicide and felonious assault in the death of Andre’ Hill. He was also charged with dereliction of duty for not activating his body camera when the incident happened, but those charges were dropped.
The former officer pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Coy fatally shot Hill on Dec. 22, 2020, as Hill emerged from a garage on Oberlin Drive holding a cellphone. Coy and another officer were responding to a non-emergency call on the report of a suspicious vehicle in the area.
Though neither officer turned on their body-worn cameras, a 60-second rollback with no audio captured Coy approaching the open garage with Hill inside. Authorities later said Hill was at the home visiting a friend.
Hill appeared from around a vehicle with the cellphone in his left hand. His right hand was not visible. Seconds later, Coy removed his gun and fired it at Hill.
The autopsy report from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office showed Hill was shot four times.
Coy was fired from the police department on Dec. 28, 2020.
Coy’s trial was initially set for 2022 but his attorney filed a request in August 2021 to move the trial out of Columbus. The attorney argued that extensive local and national publicity would make it impossible to seat an impartial jury.
The judge denied the request, stating that a fair trial locally was possible. Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson also opposed the request, saying that a change of location “would unnecessarily consume resources and time.”
Coy’s trial was then postponed indefinitely so the former police officer could receive chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The city reached a $10 million settlement, the largest in Columbus history, with Hill’s family in May 2021.
