COLUMBUS, Ohio — The courtroom was packed for the Adam Coy murder trial on Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • The prosecution and defense presented contradicting opening statements Thursday morning 

  • Two witnesses testified on Thursday afternoon

  • One witness was the neighbor who made the noise complaint the night Andre Hill was killed and the other witness was the police officer who responded to the complaint with Adam Coy

We heard contradicting opening statements from attorneys on both sides and also heard witness testimony from the neighbor who made the noise complaint and the other officer who responded to that noise complaint with Adam Coy the night Andre Hill was killed. 

The prosecution seemed to be pulling on the emotions of the jurors during its opening remarks, focusing on what happened the night of the shooting. They showed a photo of the garage where the shooting took place and mentioned Adam Coy not turning on his body cam when he initially arrived at the scene.

As for the defense, Coy’s attorney rebutted the prosecution’s claims, using the term “glint of steel” multiple times to describe the keys in Andre Hill’s pocket. They say Coy confused those keys for a gun. They also urged the jury to make their decision based on facts, not emotion.

“It’s not lost on us that someone lost a life. Someone lost father and a friend. However, as the judge told you, and we’ll continue to remind you that when you examine a case, when you analyze and when you decide a case, you must not consider sympathy or empathy,” said defense attorney, Kaitlyn Stephens. 

“Officer Coy’s actions were not reasonable under the circumstances. And that Officer Coy was not justified in shooting and killing of Andre Hill,” said prosecuting attorney, Renee Amlin. 

Later on in the afternoon, the prosecution began questioning witnesses. They started with a 76-year-old neighbor who made the noise complaint that eventually brought officers to the house. They played the 9-1-1 call that the neighbor made that night. In it, he told dispatchers about a running car outside and mentioned that he was scared to approach the car because he, himself, didn’t have a gun. He also said that while he heard two gunshots that night, he didn’t actually see the shooting happen.

Meanwhile, the other Columbus police officer who responded to the noise complaint that night also took the stand, telling jurors that she did not see a gun on Andre Hill.

We don’t have a list of witnesses from the prosecution, but during their opening statement, they mentioned an expert witness will testify. 

Witness testimony continues on Friday.