Columbus reaches $10M settlement for family of Andre Hill

Dayton lawyers represented family of Andre Hill, a Black man who was fatally shot by a white Columbus police officer in December as he emerged from a garage holding a cellphone
Andre Hill, fatally shot by Columbus police on Dec. 22, is memorialized on a shirt worn by his daughter, Karissa Hill, on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Karissa Hill said she considered her father an “everything man” because he did so many things. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

Credit: Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Credit: Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Andre Hill, fatally shot by Columbus police on Dec. 22, is memorialized on a shirt worn by his daughter, Karissa Hill, on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Karissa Hill said she considered her father an “everything man” because he did so many things. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s capital city will pay a $10 million settlement for the family of Andre Hill, a Black man who was fatally shot by a white Columbus police officer in December as he emerged from a garage holding a cellphone, the Columbus city attorney announced Friday.

It's the largest such settlement in city history.

Hill, 47, was fatally shot by white police officer Adam Coy on Dec. 22 as Hill emerged from a garage holding up a cellphone. Coy was fired and has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

“No amount of money will ever bring Andre Hill back to his family, but we believe this is an important and necessary step in the right direction," Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a statement.

As part of the settlement, a gym frequented by Hill will be renamed the Andre Hill Gymnasium.

Lawyers representing Hill's family praised the settlement and the gym renaming, saying in a statement: “Now all those involved can begin to heal.”

Those attorneys include Richard Schulte and Michael Wright of Dayton.

Hill was visiting a family friend when he was shot. Coy and another officer had responded to a neighbor's nonemergency complaint about someone stopping and starting a car outside.

“He was bringing me Christmas money. He didn’t do anything,” a woman inside the house shouted at police afterward.

Coy, who had a long history of complaints from citizens, was fired Dec. 28 for failing to activate his body camera before the confrontation and for not providing medical aid to Hill.

Beyond an internal police investigation, the Ohio attorney general, the U.S. attorney for central Ohio and the FBI have begun their own probes into the shooting.

Attorney Benjamin Crump, left, discusses the police shooting of Andre Hill at a news conference attended by Hill's daughter, Karissa, center, and sister Shawna Barnett, on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Karissa Hill said she considered her father an "everything man" because he did so many things. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

Credit: Andrew Welsh-Huggins

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Credit: Andrew Welsh-Huggins