Nearly nine months after Adam Coy became the first Columbus police officer convicted in an on-duty death, a judge sentenced the former cop to life in prison for the murder of Andre Hill.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Stephen McIntosh handed down the mandatory sentence to Coy, 48, during a July 28 hearing. He will be eligible for parole after 15 years.
A jury convicted Coy in November of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the Dec. 22, 2020, shooting that killed Hill, a 47-year-old unarmed Black man.
Hill’s death resulted in an outcry from the Columbus community and broad policy changes within the city’s police department. Columbus settled a lawsuit filed by Hill’s family for $10 million, the largest in city history.
Karissa Hill, Andre Hill’s only child, spoke at Coy’s sentencing how she has had to explain to her three children how their “Big Daddy” was killed — and face how they have seen body camera video of the shooting.
“To explain to them that a police officer took their Big Daddy away, it’s the hardest thing to do,” she said. “Those are the people they tell us to rely on. If stuff happens, you’re supposed to call the police. Someone thought they were doing the right thing and called the police, and now my dad’s not here.”
Shawna Barnett, one of Hill’s sisters, said Coy’s sentencing is not about vengeance for her brother’s death, but instead about holding someone accountable for their actions.
“He was a source of joy, laughter and strength. His life was taken in the most brutal and unjust way. Without cause, without mercy,” Barnett said. “He died alone, unarmed and undeserving of what happened to him. Our lives are split into before and after, and we are left with pain that does not fade.”
‘What the court does may not bring healing to the family’
McIntosh acknowledged after handing down his sentence just how difficult cases like Coy’s are on everyone involved.
“It really doesn’t matter what the court ultimately does today in terms of sentencing. What we try to do is provide whatever anyone defines as justice, but what the court does is not going to bring back Mr. Hill,” he said. “What the court does may not bring closure to the family, what the court does may not bring healing to the family.”
McIntosh also said he believes the community understands how difficult policing is and the large amount of responsibility officers carry in making split-second decisions.
“The jurors didn’t say this, but in my review, they placed some weight on the fact that Mr. Hill did absolutely everything you asked him to do, and that’s exactly what he did,” McIntosh said. “It’s not like Mr. Hill was trying to evade, it’s not like Mr. Hill was running at you. He was doing exactly what you told him to do, which is come out of the garage with his hands up.”
One of the jurors from the case attended the sentencing hearing and sat with members of Hill’s family.
“When someone complies with everything the officer asks them to do and still gets shot, that officer, that individual needs to be held responsible,” McIntosh said. “I think that’s what the jurors did in this case.”
Franklin County Prosecutor Shayla Favor stood with members of Hill’s family outside the courtroom after the hearing and said her office is not taking sides, calling the sentencing “solemn yet significant.”
Favor said the vast majority of Columbus police officers do their work with integrity and professionalism, but holding other officers accountable is part of rebuilding community trust.
“There are no winners today,” she said. “Two lives have been forever changed.”
What will happen next for Adam Coy?
McIntosh had initially scheduled Coy for sentencing in November. His attorneys filed a request to set aside the jury’s verdict because the prosecution team failed to disclose a conversation with a potential expert witness. The judge held several hearings regarding the request but ultimately ruled in favor of the prosecution, allowing Coy’s sentencing to proceed.
That issue is one of several that are likely to be included as part of Coy’s appeal. During the July 28 sentencing, defense attorney Mark Collins made procedural arguments about setting aside the jury’s verdicts because of the legal way Coy was charged.
“They’re required in this situation to respond to a threat, they have to perceive it and respond. They can’t respond and do nothing, that’s a violation of their duty,” Collins said. “Mr. Coy was mistaken about whether there was a silver snub-nosed revolver in Mr. Hill’s hand or a set of keys.”
Coy has been held in the Franklin County jail since the jury’s verdict was announced. He is continuing to undergo cancer treatment, which delayed his trial several times between 2022 and 2023.
Collins also called for changes to how police officer shooting cases are handled in Ohio. He said there are no proven jury instructions and no uniform process for how grand juries, the citizens who decide if charges should be filed, are educated on the specific case law involving police uses of force.
Collins and his partner, Kaitlyn Stephens, also represent three other law enforcement officers currently under indictment for murder in Franklin County.
Collins said the use of Ohio’s felony murder statute against officers was a weaponization of the law and expressed disappointment that Favor was holding a press conference after the hearing.
“Why are you going to politicize this?” he said. “Our system is imperfect, there are innocent people in prisons. Sometimes juries get it wrong.”
What’s changed for Columbus police since Andre Hill’s death
Hill’s death prompted a slew of policy changes within the Columbus police department and in city law.
More than 10 minutes passed after Coy shot Hill before any of the officers at the scene provided him with medical treatment. The officers opted to wait for paramedics.
In February 2021, Columbus City Council approved Andre’s Law, which requires officers to have their body cameras activated and to provide medical assistance until medical personnel arrive. A similar bill was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives but did not advance out of committee.
The city of Columbus also invested millions in new body camera technology, which allows for a two-minute look-back feature that captures both audio and video. The newer cameras also use Bluetooth technology to automatically activate when a cruiser’s lights or sirens are activated, a rifle or shotgun rack inside a cruiser is released, a cruiser is involved in a crash or accelerates to a high speed.
How did Andre Hill get shot?
On the morning of the shooting, Coy went to Oberlin Drive after a neighbor called Columbus police through its nonemergency number. The neighbor complained about a silver SUV parked on the street that had been running intermittently for about three hours, according to testimony at Coy’s trial.
When Coy arrived, he spoke with the SUV’s driver, who is now known to be Hill.
Hill showed Coy a cell phone and told Coy that he was waiting on someone, testimony later revealed. Later, Hill walked up to the door of a neighboring home, knocked and got no response.
Coy testified that Hill walked back to the SUV, rummaged around inside it and then returned to the house’s front door, knocking a second time with no response.
Officer Amy Detweiler arrived, and Coy later testified that he told her that something felt off about the situation. The two officers walked up the driveway and approached the house, which had an open garage door. The light inside the garage was off, and there was a vehicle inside, according to evidence presented at trial.
The officers saw Hill inside the vehicle inside the garage, prompting Coy to give verbal commands for Hill to come out and show himself, according to testimony. Hill came out of the garage with his left hand holding up a cell phone, its screen illuminated.
Coy said he yelled “Gun, gun, he has a gun,” drawing his own weapon and firing at Hill four times. Coy testified he saw silver metal in Hill’s right hand. The metal was later determined to be Hill’s key ring. He was not armed.
Neither Coy nor Detweiler had activated their body-worn cameras at the time the shooting happened. The cameras, however, captured the shooting on video with no audio through a 60-second look-back feature. The police department fired Coy less than a week after the shooting.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@gannett.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Columbus police officer Adam Coy sentenced to life in prison for murder of Andre Hill
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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