An Ohio coroner determined that the police murder of Andre Hill, an unarmed black man, last week in Columbus was a homicide.
Franklin County coroner’s office announced the determination in a brief statement on Monday, saying its preliminary investigation shows that Hill, 47, died of several gunshot wounds.
Body camera footage shows Hill walking out of an open garage door and holding his cell phone as two Columbus police officers approach him just after 1:30 am on December 22. Within seconds, officer Adam Coy, a 19-year-old veteran of the department, shoots Colina.
The officers were responding to a non-emergency call about a man “sitting in an SUV for a long time, turning the vehicle on and off repeatedly,” according to the city’s Department of Public Security. It is not clear whether Hill was the man described in the call. He reportedly visited someone’s home when he was killed.
“Andre Hill’s death is another tragic example of the police’s tendency to see blacks as criminals or dangerous and points to the need for comprehensive national police reform,” said Ben Crump, a lawyer for the Hill family, tweeted after the coroner’s announcement. “The family wants to review all footage from the body camera as soon as possible.”
Earlier on Monday, Ned Pettus Jr., the director of public security, held a disciplinary hearing to Coy, who remains released from his post pending a decision on his job. The hearing was called after Columbus police chief Thomas Quinlan recommended that he be fired.
“I saw everything I need to see to come to the conclusion that Officer Coy should be fired immediately,” Quinlan said in a statement on December 24.
The city’s Department of Public Security said in a statement on Monday that Pettus “would make an immediate decision” about Coy’s job. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating whether Coy will face criminal charges.
The incident marks the second time in weeks that the police have killed a black man in Columbus. On December 4, Casey Goodson Jr., 23, was shot dead without any footage from the body camera or witnesses other than the sheriff’s assistant who fired his gun.