Coy appeared virtually from Franklin County prison – wearing beige coveralls and a face mask – and a judge set bail at $ 3 million and ordered him not to have contact with police or witnesses in his case.
Coy fatally shot Hill, who was black, seconds after the encounter, while Hill walked towards Coy while holding a lighted cell phone in his left hand. Hill was unarmed.
The former policeman only spoke to acknowledge the judge that he could hear the case.
His lawyer, Mark Collins, cited his client’s military service and asked the court to set up bail of up to $ 250,000.
Collins said his client was not a flight hazard. He called the case a “case of self-defense” – not a “who did it” – to determine whether the level of force used by the officer was justified.
Prosecutor Anthony Pierson defended a high bond, saying that Hill lost his life as a result of Coy’s actions. Hill’s family was seated in the front row of the court, behind the prosecutor.
The judge denied Collins’ pleas to consider reducing the bond, saying that “based on everything I’ve heard, this is the bond I’ve made.”
The judge also established a separate $ 20,000 bond.
Hill’s family not entirely satisfied with the prosecution
On Thursday, Hill’s family – through attorney Ben Crump – said they were “relieved” by the charges, but not entirely “satisfied” with the police charge of killing a man who carried only his cell phone.
“They are not satisfied because we know, based on what happened before in America, that when a white police officer kills an unarmed black man, that does not guarantee a conviction,” said Crump.
The two abandonment counts apply to Coy’s failure to use his body camera and “his failure to inform his fellow police officer that he felt Andre Hill was a danger,” according to Yost.
Coy said Hill had a gun, the report says
Coy turned on his body camera after the shooting. The camera’s lookback feature captured 60 seconds of video, but no audio, before Coy turned it on.
The footage seemed to show Coy walking towards Hill, who addressed the officer. Coy started shooting within seconds. It is not clear whether Hill or Coy said anything during the brief encounter because Coy did not activate the body camera.
The first few seconds of the video from Coy’s body camera in which audio is available showed Coy ordering Hill to put his hands to the side, ordering him to lie down and warning an officer not to approach because one of Hill’s arms was under the car where it collapsed.
Coy was fired in December. Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said at the time that the evidence offered “solid justification” for Coy’s dismissal.
CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Amir Vera, Rebecca Riess, Dakin Andone, Emma Tucker, Devon Sayers, Keith Allen, Travis Caldwell, Alec Snyder, Peter Nickeas and Nicquel Terry Ellis contributed to this report.