Adam Coy Guilty of Murder After Shooting Unarmed Man in 2020
A Franklin County jury found former Columbus police officer Adam Coy guilty of murder after a two-week trial that had been delayed for several years. Coy, 48, faced charges of murder, reckless homicide, and felonious assault in connection with the fatal shooting of Andre Hill, 47, in December 2020. After deliberating for around 12 hours, the jury delivered a guilty verdict on all counts.
Unlike a standard murder trial, the jury in this case had to determine whether Coy’s use of force was “objectively reasonable” at the time of the shooting, based on the information he had, without the benefit of hindsight. The jury did not need to establish whether Coy had killed Hill, but whether his actions were justifiable under the circumstances.
Coy’s sentencing will be determined by Judge Stephen McIntosh at a later date, with the potential sentence ranging from 15 years to life in prison.
The incident occurred on Dec. 22, 2020, when Coy responded to a non-emergency call about a suspicious vehicle in northwest Columbus. At approximately 1:50 a.m., Coy shot Hill four times as he exited a garage in response to the officer’s instructions. Hill was holding a lit phone in his left hand, with his right hand concealed behind a parked car. Coy believed Hill was armed with a silver revolver, but it was later determined that Hill was holding a set of keys. Coy did not administer medical assistance, and Hill died at the hospital less than an hour later.
Coy was fired from the Columbus Police Department shortly after the shooting and was charged in February 2021 with murder and felonious assault. An additional charge of reckless homicide was added in April 2021. The trial, initially delayed three times due to Coy’s battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, finally began with jury selection on October 21, nearly four years after the incident.
