In the largest settlement in the in the city of Columbus, Ohio’s history and ‘the largest pretrial settlement in a police use-of-force case in state history,’ Columbus, Ohio will now join the ranks of other cities across the nation in paying out millions of dollars to families whose loved ones were killed by the police. The city attorney announced Friday that the family of Andre Hill, a 47-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by a Columbus police officer in December, will receive $10 million.
Hill, 47, was fatally shot by 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 and reckless homicide 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.
Unless individual police officers or the department, as a whole, are held directly responsible and subjected to direct legal action, more and more cities across the US of A will continue to pay out millions of dollars because of police misconduct or more appropriately, murder.
