Who was Andre Hill? Family of unarmed Black man who was shot dead by Ohio cop to get record $10M settlement
The city of Columbus, Ohio, has decided to deliver a settlement of $10M to the family of Andre Hill, a Black man who was shot dead by a police officer on December 22, 2020. The 47-year-old was fatally shot by senior cop Adam Coy, who encountered him on a driveway, as Hill held his illuminated smartphone up in his left hand. He was reportedly shot thrice in his right leg and once in his chest, and pronounced dead later at the OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran of the force, was charged with murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide after the shooting of Hill. The accused officer was fired by the Columbus police department who condemned the incident. In a publicly issued statement, the police department said, "The actions of Adam Coy do not live up to the oath of a Columbus Police officer, or the standards we, and the community, demand of our officers."
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Who was Andre Hill?
Andre Maurice Hill was a 47-year-old Black man hailing from Ohio who was a father and a grandfather. A known supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Hill was ironically wearing a BLM shirt when he was shot dead by the police.
On Tuesday, December 22, two officers, including Coy responded to a non-emergency disturbance call from 1000 block of Oberlin Drive, about a parked SUV that had been running on and off for a period of time. Coy and a female officer arrived at the location at 1.49 am.
At that time, Hill was inside the garage of the home and was an expected guest there. About 10 seconds after encountering Hill, Coy fired his service weapon multiple times at him. Neither Coy nor the other officer switched their body cameras on until after the shooting. Because of the camera's "look-back" feature, which records 60 seconds before they are turned on, the shooting itself was captured on video, with no audio.
In the video, both officers can be seen walking up the driveway to the open garage door at the home. Hill then walks towards the officers with his cellphone up in his left hand. Coy then fires at Hill four times and approaches him afterward. According to the video evidence, Hill lay there without any first aid by any officer for at least six minutes. The coroner's office later ruled that Hill's death was a homicide, and was caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
After Coy was arrested with the charges, he pleaded not guilty and his bond was set by the court at $3M. Now, Hill's family will receive the highest ever settlement amount paid out by the City of Columbus. The settlement has been reached at a time when the Columbus City council as well as the police department has come under fire after the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant by a White police officer.