Former Columbus police officer Adam Coy will testify in the death of Andrew Hill

The jury in the trial of a former Columbus police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in December 2020 will hear from the officer on Monday.

Adam Coy is expected to testify in Franklin County Circuit Court about the December 2020 night he shot and killed unarmed Andre Hill.

Coy, 47, will stand trial after prosecutors presented six witnesses in their case-in-chief. Prosecutors are expected to call their expert on police use of force as a rebuttal witness after Coy’s expert witnesses testify.

Hill, 47, died after Coy shot him four times while exiting a garage in the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive.

Koya is charged with murder, reckless homicide and aggravated assault.

On Monday morning, jurors heard from Kevin Davis, a former Akron police officer and a use-of-force expert who testified in the trials of other Franklin County law enforcement officers. Davis testified that he believed Coy’s use of force was justified because the officer said through his attorneys that he thought Hill was holding a gun in his right hand, which turned out to be a keychain.

Under cross-examination, Davis said he saw no elements of Coy’s crime in hindsight. Davis said the legal guidelines for assessing the use of force do not allow for retrospective review.

Before testimony began Monday, Coy’s attorneys asked Judge Stephen McIntosh to dismiss the manslaughter charge, saying prosecutors had not presented “a preponderance of evidence” to prove Coy acted with “reckless indifference to the consequences.”

McIntosh said there was enough evidence for the prosecution to allow a jury to determine Coy’s guilt or innocence.

Amy Detweiler, the Columbus police officer who responded to Coy, previously testified that she heard Coy yell, “Gun, gun, he’s got a gun” before hearing the shots. Detweiler testified that she raised her gun when Coy yelled “gun,” but said she did not fire because she did not see a weapon.

The tragedy began after a neighbor called police around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2020, to report that the SUV, which had been parked on Oberlin Drive, had been spinning on and off for more than three hours, according to testimony presented during the trial. When Coy arrived, he spoke with a neighbor who noted that the SUV had moved two houses to the other side of the home where the shooting occurred.

Coy approached Hill, who showed Coy a text message that said he was waiting for someone at home, Caitlin Stevens, one of Coy’s attorneys, said in her opening speech.

Coy got into his cruiser and saw Hill walk up to the home’s front door, knock without an answer, knock a second time, then return to an SUV parked in front of another home and rummage through it, Stevens said. When Hill headed to the home a second time, Coy tried to talk to Hill, who she said ignored him.

Stevens said Coy and Detweiler, who arrived when Hill approached the home a second time, went to the garage.

Stevens said Coy mistook a key ring in Hill’s right hand for a revolver. On Friday, the jury was shown a key ring that was more than eight and a half inches long.

During cross-examination, prosecutors may also present Coy’s history as a police officer includes several citizen complaints and suspensions in 2012 for using excessive force during detention.

Coy was fired less than a week after the shooting, and the city of Columbus paid $10 million to the Hill family in connection with the shooting. Hill’s death also prompted the city to pass legislation requiring police officers to render medical aid to anyone they injure until paramedics arrive.

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