Former police officer Adam Coy found guilty of killing unarmed black man Andre Hill

A former police officer faces a minimum of 15 years in prison after being found guilty of killing an unarmed black man in the US.

Adam Coy spent nearly 20 years as a police officer in Columbus, Ohio, but was fired following the December 2020 murder of Andre Hill.

Hill, who had keys and a cellphone and not a gun as Coy thought, was shot four times by a former officer in a garage in the city.

Coy, 48, told jurors he believed Hill, 47, was holding a silver revolver and was “going to die.”

He “was horrified,” he said tearfully after checking Hill’s body, seeing the keys and realizing his mistake.

The jury found Coy guilty on all three charges: murder, reckless homicide and criminal assault, said NBC, Sky’s US partner.

His lawyer Mark Collins said Coy, who is being treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has a type Cancerwas devastated by the verdict and later vowed to appeal.

Hill’s death came seven months after another unarmed black man was killed. George Floydin Minneapolis, kicking off the nationwide Black Lives Matter campaign for racial justice.

What happened in the minutes before Hill was killed

Police body camera footage shows Hill leaving the garage of a friend’s home holding a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before Coy fatally shot him around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2020.

Coy, who was responding to a report of a vehicle turning on and off, ordered Hill out of the garage of a home he thought was being burglarized, but where Hill was actually the homeowner’s guest.

It took officers nearly 10 minutes before they began helping Hill, who was bleeding on the garage floor. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Multi-million dollar settlement

Columbus later reached a $10 million (£7.7 million) settlement with Hill’s family, the largest in the city’s history.

The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to provide immediate medical attention to an injured suspect.

Prosecutors said Hill, 47, followed the officer’s commands and never posed a threat to Coy.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Anthony Pearson said, “We’re taught, ‘Do what the cops tell you, and you’ll survive the encounter.’ That’s not what happened here.”

Shona Barnett, one of Hill’s sisters, said: “It’s been too long but I’m glad it’s over. It’s time to stop. It’s time to make things fair.”

More than three dozen complaints have been filed against Coy since he began working for the department in 2002, but all but a few were labeled “unfounded” or “unfounded,” records show.