The former Ohio police officer charged with the shooting of Andre Hill has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.
Adam Coy, who was fired from the Columbus Division of Police in December, made the plea on Friday, according to Franklin County Court records. A judge set his bail at $ 3 million and ordered that he should not interact with witnesses in the case and other police officers.
His lawyer, Mark Collins, was not immediately available on Saturday.
An Ohio grand jury charged Coy Wednesday with murder in the commission of a felony, felony and two counts of dereliction of duty. He was arrested the same day and will be in prison on Saturday afternoon.
Hill, a 47-year-old black man, was shot and killed on December 22 after two officers responded to a call that a person in a vehicle had turned the engine on and off.
The officers were only able to turn on their body cameras immediately after the shooting. But an automatic “look back” feature on the device was able to capture 60 seconds of video – without the audio – before the camera finally turned on.
The clip showed Coy using his flashlight as he and the other officer walked up a house driveway. Hill was a guest of the homeowner and was in the garage.
It showed Hill walking to the officers holding his cellphone when Coy fired his weapon. Hill was shot four times, according to Attorney General Dave Yost’s office.
The camera images of the body showed that neither officer provided assistance or medical assistance to Hill while he was lying on the ground for several minutes.
Collins said there were other interactions between his client and Hill, and that the camera video of the body shows only a fraction of what happened. He said Coy thought Hill had a gun, but no weapon was found on the spot.
“When he saw the right hand come towards him, he thought there was a silver revolver,” Collins said earlier.
The lawyer said the Supreme Court’s rulings provide for officers’ defense in such shootings.
“An officer could be mistaken about the threat, and that is justified if that mistake was a genuine belief and was reasonable,” Collins said.
The shooting caused outrage and Coy was fired by the police. Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan had recommended Coy’s termination for not activating his body camera prior to the shooting and for failing to provide medical attention.
