A former Ohio police officer was convicted of murder Monday in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed. Adam Coy, who served nearly 20 years with the Columbus police force, shot Hill four times in a garage nearly four years ago. Coy, who is White, was fired after the shooting.

Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh set a sentencing date of Nov. 25 for Coy, who is undergoing cancer treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma. Coy faces at least 15 years in prison, with the jury also finding him guilty of reckless homicide and felonious assault. Defense attorney Mark Collin later said they would be appealing the verdict.

Police body camera footage showed Hill, 47, 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 by Coy. Almost 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene began to aid Hill; he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Coy told jurors that he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver that turned out to be keys, testifying: “I thought I was going to die.”  However, after he rolled over Hill’s body and saw the keys that he realized there was no gun: “I knew at that point I made a mistake. I was horrified.”

Weeks after the December 2020 shooting, the city of Columbus reached a $10 million settlement with Hill’s family, the largest in city history. The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to render immediate medical attention to an injured suspect.

Brian Steel, president of the police union in Columbus, said he was shocked by the murder conviction: “Your split-second decision can now be led to murder. It is absolutely insane. Officers are willing to die for their community, they are willing to die for this job. They do not want to go to prison for this job.”

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