A white Ohio police officer was charged with murder Wednesday in the latest fallout following the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man, the state’s attorney general said. (Feb. 3) AP Domestic
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Andre Hill’s only daughter said Thursday that former Columbus police officer Adam Coy messed with the wrong family.
“This is what’s supposed to happen when another person murders somebody,” Karissa Hill said.
The family of Hill, a 47-year-old unarmed Black man killed by Coy on Dec. 22, said Thursday morning they were happy to be taking the first step in what they called a journey for justice. Coy was indicted and charged Wednesday with murder, felonious assault and dereliction of duty.
Hill’s family, accompanied by national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, spoke Thursday in Columbus about the indictment returned by a Franklin County grand jury on Wednesday afternoon.
“The family is relieved this morning but they are not satisfied with an indictment,” Crump said, pushing for the officer to be convicted on the charges.
Andre Hill case: Second officer at Andre Hill shooting did not observe any threats
Hill was inside an open garage around 1:50 a.m. on Dec. 22 at a Columbus home where he was an expected guest, when Coy and another Columbus police officer arrived.
The officers had been dispatched after a non-emergency call was placed by a neighbor about a vehicle parked on the street that was being turned on and off. The caller did not mention Hill or the exact address where the shooting took place.
About 10 seconds after encountering Hill, Coy fired his service weapon at Hill multiple times.
Neither Coy nor the other officer turned on their body cameras until after the shooting. Because of a “look-back” feature on the cameras that records the 60 seconds before they are turned on, the shooting itself was captured on video, with no audio.
The video shows officers getting out of their cruisers and walking up the driveway to the open garage door at the home. Hill has his back turned to officers. He turns around and takes four steps toward the officers with his cellphone up in his left hand and his right hand not visible.
Coy then shoots Hill and approaches him. The audio now on, Coy tells Hill to roll over, saying he can’t see his right hand. Coy asks if a medic is coming but doesn’t provide initial aid.
Crump: We still expect a conviction
Six weeks after his death, Hill’s family said they were able to finally feel happiness on Wednesday after hearing news of the indictment.
“It made my day yesterday,” Shawna Barnett, one of Hill’s sisters, said Thursday.
Karissa Hill said she smiled genuinely for the first time since her father’s death when she received the news.
Crump and attorney Michael Wright, who are assisting the Hill family, said securing a conviction on the indicted charges is the next step.
“Don’t get overjoyed or celebrate just because of the indictment,” Crump said. “We still expect, based on this evidence, for you to get a conviction. Let’s not celebrate this indictment as if it’s a conviction.
Alvin Williams, Hill’s brother, said he believed this indictment will be a unifier for the community.
“This isn’t a Black or white issue,” Williams said. “This is a people issue.”
Williams also said he appreciates the police officers in Columbus who “did not deserve” to be blamed or targeted because of Coy’s actions.
The family said Thursday they will not be satisfied if the case were to result in a plea deal for lesser charges.
“If you indict for four, you should convict for four,” Williams said, with Crump adding that anything less than a murder conviction would be “half-justice.”
Activist groups also spoke out Thursday in support of the indictment of Coy, but still feeling like there is more work to be done.
Columbus social justice organizer Aramis Malachi-Ture Sundiata said he knew Coy’s indictment was a matter of time. As the executive director of the People’s Justice Project in Columbus, Malachi-Ture Sundiata has been on the front lines of civil unrest and demonstrations demanding justice for Hill and also Casey Goodson Jr., who was killed on Dec. 4 outside his Northland home by a Franklin County SWAT deputy.
In Malachi-Ture Sundiata’s view, the swelling protests against the two slayings – including body camera footage released of Hill’s death – put pressure on city and state officials to take action.
Though the indictment of Coy is viewed as one demand met for the People’s Justice Project, Malachi-Ture Sundiata said the group will continue to push for police reform and the arrest of Jason Meade, the deputy who fatally shot Goodson, 23, while assigned to a U.S. Marshals task force in Columbus.
“We feel that these are the demands that the people wanted and we won something to see officer Coy arrested,” Malachi-Ture Sundiata said. “We’re just going to keep organizing, keep fighting for the cases of Casey and Andre Hill.”
Contributing: John Futty and Eric Lagatta, Columbus Dispatch
Follow reporter Bethany Bruner on Twitter: @bethany_bruner
Body camera footage from Columbus Police officer Adam Coy shows the shooting and aftermath, as Coy waited for medical help and backup to arrive. The Columbus Dispatch
