A judge ruled that the trial for the former Ohio police officer who shot and killed Andre Hill will be set for Mar. 7.
As REVOLT previously reported, Adam Coy, who is white, fatally shot Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, on Dec. 22 as he and another officer responded to a call about a man who had been sitting in his vehicle for a long time, constantly turning the engine on and off. Within seconds of arriving at the scene, Coy shot and killed Hill as he walked toward the officer with nothing but a cellphone in his hand. He then turned his bodycam off after the shooting.
Coy was later fired from the Columbus Police Department and charged with murder, reckless homicide, two counts of dereliction of duty and two counts of felony assault for Hill’s death. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Back in May, the City of Columbus agreed to pay Hill’s family a $10 million settlement for his death, becoming the largest amount the city has ever agreed to pay. “We understand that because of this former officer’s actions, the Hill family will never be whole,” City Attorney Zach Klein said. “No amount of money will ever bring Andre Hill back to his family, but we believe this is an important and necessary step in the right direction.”
In August, Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh ruled to keep the forthcoming trial in Columbus. Attorney Mark Collins argued that the case should be relocated due to the extensive national and local coverage of the shooting. He said that the publicity will make it impossible to create an impartial jury for the trial.
However, Assistant Ohio Attorney General Anthony Pierson opposed the request because he said there was no reason to believe that people in other areas of the country were less likely to have read about the case than people who live in Columbus.