In Ohio, a man “purposely” hit and killed a sheriff’s officer the day after police shot and killed his teenage son.
Rodney Hinton Jr. has been charged with aggravated murder in the death of the sheriff’s deputy. The deputy was killed Friday while directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati.
Police in Cincinnati said that Hinton is the father of Ryan Hinton, who was killed by a police officer the day before.
Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said on Sunday night that the dead Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy was named Larry Henderson.
McGuffey said in a statement, “When Deputy Henderson was first hired as a Sheriff’s Deputy, I saw how good he was at teaching and giving speeches.” In the beginning of his job, Larry worked as a trainer for the Sheriff’s Office. He got better at what he did and became a great teacher.
“After that, he trained parts of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that had hundreds of deputy sheriffs.” He had an amazing ability to connect with and affect the lives of police officers. “We will always remember Larry’s life of service,” the message said.
People who work for HCSO say Henderson worked there for 33 years. Police said in a statement that Deputy Henderson’s badge number, 1291, would no longer be used by the department.
According to WCPO, a Cincinnati ABC affiliate, there were a lot of Hamilton County sheriff’s officers in court on Saturday to support the fallen deputy.
Ryan Nelson, the prosecuting attorney, said that Hinton Jr.’s actions in his car on Friday were “planned and calculated.” He said, “He lined up his car, deliberately accelerated his car and purposely caused the death of an on-duty constable sheriff.”
However, Hinton Jr.’s lawyer said that he is facing a “very serious, very terrible charge” and that he has never been convicted of a felony before.
The lawyer said, “I understand that this is an emotionally charged situation,” referring to the death of Hinton Jr.’s son. He said, “I understand that there is a lot of sadness and a lot of anger in this room right now and in the community at large.”
The judge told the Clermont County jail that Hinton Jr. had to stay there without bond until his next court date on May 6.
On Saturday, lawyers for the Hinton family said they were hired to look into Ryan Hinton’s death and that Rodney Hinton and other family members met with Cincinnati police on Friday to watch body camera footage of his shooting death.
“Ryan Hinton’s family, including Ryan’s father, was present at the meeting and they were understandably distraught as they watched the bodycam video,” it said. “After the meeting with the police department, Ryan Hinton’s father left in his own vehicle and that was the last we heard from him until learning about the tragic incident involving a law enforcement officer who was working a traffic detail near the University of Cincinnati.”
WCPO says the lawyers are Anthony Pierson of Pierson and Pierson, LLC, Michael Wright, Shean Williams, and Robert Gresham of The Cochran Firm.
It also said, “This is an unimaginable tragedy for this community.” This terrible turn of events breaks the hearts of Ryan Hinton’s family, and we are all very sorry for the family of the police officer who died.
An Ohio law protects the privacy of victims and their families, so the constable has not been named in public yet. Police, on the other hand, said the constable had just quit and was now working for the department in a special role.