CINCINNATI — A jury has found an Ohio man guilty of murder in the death of a Hamilton County special deputy, ending a high-profile trial that centered on the intersection of grief, mental health, and lethal intent.
Rodney L. Hinton was convicted on Friday of murder and related charges for striking and killing special deputy Larry Henderson with his vehicle in May 2025. The incident occurred just hours after Hinton viewed police body camera footage of his 18-year-old son, Ryan Hinton, being fatally shot by a Cincinnati officer.
The tragic sequence began when officers responded to a reported stolen vehicle at an apartment complex. According to police reports, Ryan Hinton fled the scene alongside others. Police stated that officers pursued him, alleging that the teen was armed. Released body camera footage later showed an officer exiting a vehicle and firing at least four shots at Ryan as he ran away; authorities recovered a weapon at the scene.
The defense, led by attorney Clyde Bennett II, argued throughout the trial that the elder Hinton was suffering from a mental health crisis exacerbated by the viewing of his son’s death. The defense had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, with an expert witness testifying that Hinton was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the fatal collision.
However, prosecutors successfully argued that the crash was a deliberate, calculated act. Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burroughs told the jury that evidence from the vehicle’s data showed the car accelerated from 0 to over 43 mph in mere seconds, with the accelerator pressed to 93.3% capacity.
“He turned his wheel the same direction that Larry moved, and the car struck Larry, throwing him, tossing him into the air, twisting him until he landed,” Burroughs said during closing arguments, emphasizing that Hinton had “tracked” the deputy as he attempted to move out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. “Everything that happened that day was in the driver’s hands.”
The state’s rebuttal witnesses maintained that while Hinton was undeniably grieving and enraged by the loss of his son, he remained fully aware that his actions were illegal and harmful.
The trial was marked by raw emotion, particularly when Lori Henderson, the victim’s wife, took the stand. She tearfully recounted her husband’s final words to her before he left for work. Henderson, who had retired from the sheriff’s office just five months prior to the crash, was working as a special deputy directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati during graduation ceremonies when he was struck.
Hinton is scheduled to be sentenced on November 16.
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