A former Columbus, Ohio, police officer has been convicted of murder and other charges in the December 2020 fatal shooting of an unarmed man.
Adam Coy, 48, is guilty of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the December 2020 shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a jury decided Monday.
Judge Stephen McIntosh will sentence Coy on Nov. 25, but the only sentence McIntosh can impose is life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 15 years, the Dispatch reports.
Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, said Monday's verdict was the result of a politically biased prosecution and will have ripple effects on other officers.
"Officers are willing to die for their community," he said. "They're not willing to go to prison for their job."
Ben Crump, a nationally known civil rights attorney who represented Hill’s family, said in a statement the verdict was a “measure of justice.”
Early on the morning of Dec. 22, 2020 Officer Coy was called to the residence after a neighbor had called the Columbus police nonemergency number about a silver SUV parked there that had been running on and off for about three hours.
Coy arrived and spoke with the SUV driver, now known to be Hill. Evidence in the case showed Hill had shown Coy a cellphone and said he was waiting on someone. Coy testified he saw Hill walk up to the door of a neighboring home and knock on the door with no response from inside.
Coy told the jury that when another officer, Amy Detweiler, arrived on the scene, Coy told her that the situation seemed off, and the two began walking up the driveway and approached the home, where the garage door was open.
Evidence from the trial showed the officers saw Hill inside a vehicle inside the open garage, which had no lights on, and Coy told Hill to come out and show himself.
As Hill came out of the garage, he had his left hand up holding a lit cellphone. Coy suddenly yelled, “Gun, gun, he has a gun!” before drawing his firearm and firing at Hill four times. Coy testified he saw silver metal in Hill’s right hand.
