COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — For the second time in less than one year, the murder trial for a former Columbus Division of Police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man back in December 2020 has been postponed.
The trial for former officer Adam Coy, who is charged with murder after shooting and killing Andre’ Hill on Dec. 22, 2020, has been postponed after Coy was diagnosed with cancer, according to a statement from his attorney, Mark C. Collins.
“The trial date of April 24th has been stricken,” Collins said in a statement. “There’s a status conference set for July 12, 2023. The defense asked for the continuance because our client has been diagnosed with classical Hodgkin lymphoma. He is an active treatment and he receives cycles of chemotherapy that will continue through June 2023.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the body’s lymph nodes, limiting the body’s immune system. The disease causes the body’s white blood cells to grow out of control, causing the lymph nodes to swell, the clinic said.
“Advances in diagnosis and treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma have helped give people with this disease the chance for a full recovery,” the clinic writes on its website. “The prognosis continues to improve for people with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
Originally scheduled for March 2022, the trial saw its first postponement in February and was continued to Nov. 7, 2022. In November 2022, the trial was moved again with no date set.
Police said Coy and other officers were responding to a non-emergency call on the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive, where he saw Hill in an open garage. Hill started to come out of the garage with a phone in one hand when Coy fired.
Coy did not activate his body camera until after the shooting, which preserved only the previous 60 seconds of video with no audio via a “lookback” feature. From there, video and audio continued, and Coy can be seen not offering immediate medical aid to Hill, who later died at an area hospital. A Franklin County coroner’s report found Hill was shot four times.
Coy was fired from the department seven days after the shooting. He remains free on bond pending his trial.
