Cincinnati Man Convicted Of Murder For Driving Into A Deputy, Hours After Watching Video Of His Son’s Killing

A Hamilton County jury on Friday, October 23, convicted Rodney Hinton Jr., 40, of murder, reckless homicide and two counts of felonious assault in the death of sheriff’s Deputy Larry Ray Henderson Jr. The jury — seven women and five men — declined to convict Hinton of aggravated murder, finding reckless homicide instead on that part of the case. The trial lasted ten days, and the jury deliberated into a third day before returning its verdict. Hinton was taken into custody immediately.

Sentencing is set for November 16, 2026, at 9 a.m. The murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life, with the possibility of parole; reckless homicide carries up to three years.

The crash happened on May 2, 2025. Henderson was working a special traffic detail near the University of Cincinnati during its graduation. He had retired months earlier, after decades of service, and had continued working special details. Hinton drove into him. Henderson had no involvement in the shooting of Hinton’s son.

That shooting had happened the day before. On May 1, 2025, a Cincinnati police officer fatally shot Hinton’s son Ryan, 18, during a chase, shooting him twice. The officer said Ryan Hinton had pointed a gun at him. Hours before the crash, the family watched the body-camera video of the shooting. Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich’s review in 2025 found the officer’s shooting of Ryan Hinton was legally justified.

Nothing connected Henderson to any of it. He was not the officer who shot Ryan Hinton, was not part of that investigation, and was at the university that day for one reason: traffic duty for graduation. Prosecutors built their case on that separation — and on Hinton’s own words to the psychologist who evaluated him, that when he was asked whether he had been angry at police, he answered, “Not him particularly.” In the state’s telling, the victim was interchangeable: a deputy, in uniform, at a post. The defense did not dispute whose car it was or where it went; it disputed what was happening in Hinton’s mind when he drove it.

Prosecutors told the jury the crash was deliberate. Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burroughs said Hinton waited for traffic to clear, then accelerated from 0 to more than 43 miles per hour, with the accelerator pressed to 93.3 percent. Hinton himself had told an evaluating psychologist that he had to turn the wheel “a little bit to hit him.” Asked whether he had been angry at police, his answer, as presented at trial, was: “Not him particularly.” “Everything that happened that day was in the driver’s hands,” Burroughs argued.

The defense, led by attorney Clyde Bennett II, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Bennett argued the episode was a suicide attempt or a psychotic episode; Hinton’s diagnoses include schizoaffective disorder. The jury rejected the defense. Bennett said the defense will appeal.

Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said the verdict brought some closure, and justice for Henderson. Hinton remains in custody while he awaits the November 16 sentencing.

Sources: The Associated Press; CNN; WLWT; court records.