US city to pay $10mn to family of unarmed black man killed by police

Washington, May 15 : The US city of Columbus has agreed to pay $10 million to the family of Andre Hill, an unarmed African-American man who was shot dead by police in December 2020, local media reported.

The settlement, the largest in the city's history, will move to the Columbus City Council for a vote on May 17, reports Xinhua news agency.

"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," City Attorney Zach Klein said in a statement issued on Friday afternoon.

The city in the state of Ohio has also agreed to rename the gym located inside the Brentnell Community Center, which the victim frequented, the Andre Hill Gymnasium, according to local media reports.

Hill's daughter, Karissa, said at a press conference on Friday that the settlement is "one step but it's not full justice".

Hill, 47, was exiting a garage at a home where he was a guest around 2 a.m. on December 22, 2020, when he was shot and killed by then police officer Adam Coy, who was responding to a non-emergency disturbance call about a vehicle turning on and off.

Coy did not have his body camera on at the time of the shooting.

The camera's look-back feature captured 60 seconds of video, but no audio, showing Hill held a cellphone in his hand and began walking toward the officers when he was shot four times by Coy.

Body camera footage from other responding officers showed more than 10 minutes passed before Hill was given any medical aid.

He died about 30 minutes after the shooting at a hospital.

Coy was sacked within a week of the shooting and has since been indicted on charges of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide.