Ex-Cop Who Shot Unarmed Black Man Gets 15 Years to Life

Adam Coy said he thought Andre Hill's keys, phone were a gun
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 28, 2025 2:27 PM CDT
Ex-Cop Who Shot Unarmed Black Man Gets 15 Years to Life
This image from video provided by WSYX/WTTE shows former Columbus police officer Adam Coy during his trial, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.   (WSYX/WTTE via AP, File)

A former Ohio police officer convicted of murder in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed, was given a mandatory sentence Monday of 15 years to life. Former Columbus officer Adam Coy shot Hill four times in a garage in December 2020. He told jurors that he feared for his life because he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver. Coy, who was responding to a nonemergency call about a car engine being turned on and off, shot Hill less than 10 seconds after he encountered him.

  • Coy, who is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, told the court Monday he plans to appeal the verdict. "I feel my actions were justified," Coy said. "I reacted the same way I had in hundreds of training scenarios. I drew and fired my weapon to stop a threat, protect myself and my partner."

  • Prosecutors said Hill followed police commands and was never a threat to Coy. In victim impact statements Monday, Hill's sisters and ex-wife described the 47-year-old as a gentle man whose grandchildren called him "Big Daddy."
  • Karissa Hill, his only child, said it had been tough to explain his killing to her three children. "To explain to them that a police officer took their Big Daddy away, it's the hardest thing to do," she said, per the Columbus Dispatch. "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."
  • Police body camera footage showed Hill coming out of the garage of a friend's house holding up a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before he was fatally shot. Almost 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene rendered aid.
  • Coy, who was fired afterward, had a lengthy history of citizen complaints, although most were declared unfounded. Weeks later, the mayor forced out the police chief after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people.
  • Columbus later reached a $10 million settlement with Hill's family, and the city passed a law requiring police to give immediate medical attention to injured suspects.

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