A magistrate judge on Friday, February 5, 2021, set bond at $3 million for the white former Ohio police officer charged with murder in the December shooting death of Andre Hill, a Black man. The ex-officer, Adam Coy, pleaded not guilty on Friday.
Coy was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday following a monthlong investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office into the fatal shooting of Hill, 47, on Dec. 22.
Franklin County Court Magistrate Elizabeta Saken set the bond after Mark Collins, a defense attorney representing Coy unsuccessfully argued for a bond between $25,000 and $250,000.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting Coy, argued that the high bond was necessary given the facts of the case. Saken also ordered Coy not to have contact with any witnesses in the case, including other police officers.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio’s top law enforcement official, said he was pleased with the $3 million bond.
The charges faced by Coy, a 19-year member of the force, also include failure to use his body camera and failure to tell another officer he believed Hill presented a danger. Bodycam footage of the confrontation shows Hill emerging from a garage holding a cellphone with his left hand and his right hand not visible, before being shot by Coy. No weapon was found at the scene.
