Fired Columbus Police Officer Pleads Not Guilty To New Charge In Andre Hill Case

The fired Columbus police officer accused of killing Andre Hill pleaded not guilty to an additional criminal charge.

Former Columbus police Officer Adam Coy was arraigned Wednesday after a grand jury last week added a criminal charge of reckless homicide against him for the fatal December shooting of Hill.

Coy had been indicted in February on murder, felonious assault and dereliction of duty charges in the death of 47-year-old Hill.

Prosecutors dropped the dereliction of duty charges Wednesday. These charges wre related to Coy not turning on his body camera. Coy’s attorneys successfully argued that wasn’t required for what was then considered a non-emergency call.

Coy fatally shot Hill early in the morning on December 22, while responding to a non-emergency call in Northwest Columbus. Hill was inside a neighbor’s garage – delivering Christmas money, according to the home owners – when Coy and another officer approached him.

However, because neither Coy or the other officer activated their body-worn cameras, there is no audio of the encounter until after Coy shot Hill. Footage from a 60-second “lookback” feature shows Coy firing his gun just seconds after Hill turned around to face officers with a cell phone in his hand. Hill was unarmed.

Coy and other officers at the scene also neglected to administer first aid to Hill for more than 10 minutes after the shooting.

Both Coy’s failures to activate his bodycam and provide aid were cited by the city of Columbus in its decision to fire him the week after Hill’s death.

Coy was released from the Franklin County Jail on February 9 after posting a $1 million bond.