The city of Columbus, Ohio, announced Friday it has reached a $10 million settlement with the family of a Black man shot to death by police last year.
On Dec. 22, Andre Hill was shot to death by Adam Coy who was, at the time, a Columbus police officer. Coy was fired and now faces charges of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide.
Coy and another officer responded to a neighbor’s nonemergency call after 1 a.m. about a car in front of his house in the city’s northwest side that had been running, then shut off, then turned back on, according to a copy of the call released in December.
Police bodycam footage showed Hill emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy. There is no audio because the officer hadn’t activated the body camera; an automatic “look back” feature captured the shooting without audio.
Hill was on the garage floor for several minutes without an officer on the scene coming to his aid.
Besides the settlement, the city will rename the gymnasium inside the Brentnell Community Center in Hill’s honor.
“We understand that because of this former officer’s actions, the Hill family will never be whole,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. “No amount of money will ever bring Andre Hill back to this family, but we believe this is an important and necessary step in the right direction.”
Police Chief Thomas Quinlan was also forced out of office after Hill’s death by Mayor Andrew Ginther.
“It became clear to me that Chief Quinlan could not successfully implement the reform and change I expect and that the community demands,” Ginther said after Hill’s shooting. “Columbus residents have lost faith in him and in Division’s ability to change on its own.”
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