Officer charged in Hill death posts bail, freed

The fired Ohio police officer charged with fatally shooting Andre Hill posted bail and was released from jail.

COLUMBUS » The fired police officer charged with fatally shooting Andre Hill posted bail and was released from jail Tuesday hours to an audience of protesters after a judge reduced his bond from $3 million to a third of that.

Former Columbus police Officer Adam Coy was freed in the afternoon from the Franklin County jail where he was being held on charges, including murder, in the December shooting death of 47-year-old Hill, who was Black.

A video posted by The Columbus Dispatch shows Coy being escorted out of the jail while several protesters yelled, “Convict that killer cop.”

Earlier in the day, Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh lowered the bond during a hearing for Coy, who is white, to $1 million after the defense argued $3 million was unconstitutional.

“We appreciate the opportunity to file our motion, and the opportunity to have the hearing today,” Mark Collins, Coy’s attorney, said in a statement Tuesday.

“As a result, a more reasonable bond was set.”

The bond was posted by a bonding company, which traditionally requires 10% of the total.

The judge ordered Coy’s passport to be surrendered and for him to have no contact with law enforcement officers associated with the case as a condition of the reduced bond.

He pleaded not guilty to all four charges Friday. He was fired from his job Dec. 28.

Collins had told reporters last week that he was planning to file a motion for bond reconsideration, citing the amount as inappropriate in comparison to the bail set in the cases of other on-duty police killings in the past year.

“Even the officer in the George Floyd case was given a $1 million bond, and this case is nothing like that in any way, shape or form,” Collins said after the Friday hearing.