$10 million settlement in case of Andre Hill, Black man fatally shot by police in garage of Ohio home

The city of Columbus has agreed to pay a record $10 million settlement to the family of Andre Hill after the unarmed Black man was shot dead by a white police officer during a non-emergency call last December.

The award, if approved by the City Council as expected on Monday, will be the highest settlement ever paid out by Ohio’s capital, officials said Friday.

“It is a very big day for me and my family,” Hill’s only child, Karissa Hill, 27, told reporters. “It’s one step toward something. It doesn’t take the scar off of our hearts that we still have from my dad not being here, but it’s something, and it’s a start.”

Andre Hill, left, the 47-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy last year, died from four gunshot wounds, according to an autopsy.

Shawna Barnett, Hill’s sister, praised city officials for reaching the “moral” settlement and also passing Andre’s Law, which mandates police officers activate their body cameras before any interactions and render medical aid after any use of force.

“I want to thank the city for coming forward and doing what they knew was right and just,” Barnett said.

“We don’t want anybody else to go through what we’re going through,” she said. “The money is a good thing, but having Andre here would be better.”

Hill, 47, was fatally shot by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy as he was exiting a friend’s home Dec. 22 through the garage holding a cellphone.

Adam Coy, the Ohio cop who fatally shot Andre Hill (pictured) while he was holding a cellphone, was fired Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, after a disciplinary hearing.

Coy, who was fired from the force after the incident and has since been charged with murder, was responding to a 311-style complaint regarding a car left running in front of a house, police said.

The officer did not have his body-worn camera recording at the time of the shooting, but he flipped it on afterward, and a 60-second “look-back” feature captured his use of deadly force.

More bodycam footage from the scene revealed that officers handcuffed Hill after the shooting and failed to render any aid for five minutes as he laying dying on the ground.

After the shooting, a woman emerged from the house to say Hill had brought her “Christmas money” and “didn’t do anything,” according to the video.

“We understand that because of this former officer’s actions, the Hill family will never be whole,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a Friday statement announcing the settlement.

“No amount of money will ever replace a beloved family member’s life, but we are glad to take this step in the right direction on behalf of the City,” he said.

Ben Crump, right, the civil rights attorney representing Andre Hill's family, raises hands with Andre Hill's Daughter Karissa Hill during a news conference about the indictment of Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy in the shooting death of Andre Hill on Feb. 4, in Columbus, Ohio. (Jay LaPrete/)

In addition to paying the settlement, Columbus officials also agreed to rename a gymnasium at the Brentnell Community Center in Hill’s honor. It’s the gymnasium where Hill brought his daughter for athletics and Easter egg hunts, she said.

Hill family lawyers Ben Crump, Richard W. Schulte and Michael Wright also praised Columbus city leaders on Friday for reaching the financial settlement so quickly.

Crump called it the largest pretrial settlement for a police excessive use of force case in Ohio state history.

“Andre Hill’s life mattered,” Crump said at the press conference Friday.

“This is the first step to being able to get full justice. We’re vigilant and focused that we also get criminal accountability,” he said.

The casket of Andre Hill is moved from a horse drawn carriage to a hearse following funeral services on Tuesday, Jan. 5, near the Brentnell Community Center in Columbus, Ohio. (Fred Squillante/)

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther quickly condemned the shooting and the officers who responded to the scene without rending medical aid.

“Like most who have watched the additional body-worn camera footage from the shooting of Andre Hill and the time following, I am horrified by the time that passed before any officer provided aid to Mr. Hill,” Ginther tweeted a week after the shooting, once the bodycam footage was released.

Former Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan called Coy’s actions “egregious” in a video statement and said he was “heartbroken” by what happened.

Signs reading "Justice for Andre'" and "Justice for Casey," in reference to Andre' Hill and Casey Goodson Jr., both Black men killed at the hands of law enforcement in Columbus, sit outside the First Church of God before the funeral of Andre Hill on Jan. 5, in Columbus, Ohio. (Joshua A. Bickel/)

Quinlan announced his resignation a month later at Ginther’s request.

“It became clear to me that Chief Quinlan could not successfully implement the reform and change I expect and that the community demands. Columbus residents have lost faith in him and in Division’s ability to change on its own. Chief Quinlan understood,” Ginther tweeted Jan. 28.

Coy, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty in the case.