An unarmed Black man who was fatally shot four years ago by a now-fired Columbus, Ohio, police officer complied with commands and was wrongly killed as he walked out of a garage, prosecutors said Thursday.
Opening arguments began earlier in the day in the trial against former officer Adam Coy, 48, who killed Andre Hill, 47, after claiming he mistook the cellphone Hill was holding for a revolver.
Coy faces life in prison if convicted of murder and reckless homicide charges.
“Officer Coy was not justified in shooting Andre Hill,” prosecutor Renee Amlin told the jury.
But defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens argued that while the shooting was a mistake, the law remains on Coy’s side because he feared for his life and ultimately followed his police training.
Actual possession of a weapon is irrelevant and mistakes happen, Stephens said in court, adding that what matters is how Hill’s hand was presented with a glint of steel. Police officers don’t have to be 100% certain when firing a weapon if there is a perceived threat or fear of bodily harm, the defense lawyer argued.
“He honestly believed a revolver was being directed at him,” Stephens said. “Justification was reasonable because he was acting in accordance with his training.”
Hill was a guest of the homeowner and had not committed a crime when two officers, responding to a call about someone turning an engine on and off, approached the garage he was standing in around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2020.
Body camera video showed Coy using his flashlight as he walked up the driveway.
Hill then walked toward the officers while holding his cellphone when Coy fired his weapon. Coy told investigators he thought he saw a gun in Hill’s hand but no weapon was found.
The start of the trial has faced several delays as Coy was treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to NBC affiliate WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio.
Jury selection began on Monday with about 100 people answering more than 90 questions on their opinions about social movements such as Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, and what coverage they’ve consumed related to Hill’s death, the station reported.
Judge Stephen McIntosh is overseeing the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.
Coy was fired from the Columbus Police Department shortly after the shooting. The city of Columbus reached a $10 million settlement with Hill’s family in May 2021.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther has said the shooting was unwarranted and that officers on the scene failed to provide medical assistance.
“He was an expected guest. He was not an intruder,” the mayor said a day after the shooting occurred. “It is simply an unexplainable loss. It’s an officer’s duty to render aid.”
