By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Ohio police officer was convicted of murder by a jury on Monday for fatally shooting Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man.
Adam Coy, a white man and nearly 20-year veteran of the Columbus police force, killed Hill, 47, responding to a non-emergency nuisance call about car noise in December 2020.
The jury in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas case deliberated for about two and a half days.
Footage from Coy's body-worn camera showed Hill emerging from the shadows of the garage holding up a glowing cell phone in one hand before Coy opened fire. Hill died a short time later at a hospital.
During the course of 2020, there were nationwide anti-racism protests against police brutality that peaked following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over nine minutes in Minneapolis.
Coy, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 25, had told jurors that he thought Hill was holding a revolver.