COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A former police officer was found guilty Monday of murder in the shooting of Andre Hilla black man who was holding a cell phone and keys when he was killed.

Officer Adam Coy, who served nearly 20 years on the Columbus police force, shot Hill four times in a garage nearly four years ago. Coy, who is white, was fired after the shooting. He later told jurors he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver.

“I thought I was going to die,” he testified. It was only after rolling over Hill’s body and seeing the keys that he realized there was no gun, Coy said. “At that moment I knew I had made a mistake. “I was horrified.”

Coy, who was partially hidden from view by his grim-faced attorneys, did not visibly react to the verdict, but gasps could be heard in the courtroom when it was announced. Prosecutors asked that the former officer be sentenced immediately, but Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh set the sentencing date for Nov. 25.

Police body camera footage showed Hill leaving the garage of a friend’s house holding a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before Coy fatally shot him. Nearly 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene began helping Hill, who lay bleeding on the garage floor. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Weeks after the December 2020 shooting, Mayor fired the police chief after a series of fatal police shootings of black men and boys. Later Columbus arrived at a $10 million deal with the Hill family, the largest in the city’s history. The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to provide immediate medical attention to an injured suspect.

Prosecutors said Hill, 47, had followed the officer’s orders and was never a threat to Coy, who now faces at least 15 years in prison.

“We’re taught to do what the police tell you to do and you can survive that encounter,” Franklin County Deputy Prosecutor Anthony Pierson said during closing arguments. “That’s not what happened here.”

The officer’s attorneys argued that Hill’s lack of a gun didn’t matter because Coy thought his life was in danger. “It wasn’t reckless, it was reasonable,” said attorney Mark Collins.