A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for Rodney Hinton Jr., an Ohio resident facing charges after allegedly killing a sheriff’s deputy. This was one day after police shot his son in a pursuit involving a stolen vehicle. The campaign is generating significant funds to cover his legal expenses.
Hinton Jr. has been charged with aggravated murder for allegedly purposefully hitting Hamilton County Deputy Larry Henderson with a car. Deputy Henderson was managing traffic at a University of Cincinnati graduation event around 1 p.m. on Friday, as reported by Cincinnati police.
The deputy’s murder came after Hinton Jr.’s 18-year-old son, Ryan Hinton, was shot and killed by a Cincinnati officer on Thursday.
Cincinnati Police Department Chief Teresa Theetge stated that officers were chasing a vehicle stolen from an apartment area. During the pursuit, four suspects abandoned the stolen car and attempted to escape from law enforcement.
Rodney Hinton, Jr., 38, is arraigned in Courtroom A at the Hamilton County Justice Center, Saturday, May 3, 2025. He’s charged with aggravated murder, allegedly after hitting a Hamilton County Sheriff deputy who was out of his vehicle directing traffic for the University of Cincinnati afternoon commencement. The incident happened on Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods in Corryville. (© Liz Dufour/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK)
The Hinton family’s attorneys told Fox News Digital in a statement that the Cochran Firm “was hired by Ryan Hinton’s estate to conduct an investigation into his shooting death by an officer with the Cincinnati Police Department.”
“We are in the preliminary stages of that investigation,” the family’s attorneys said, adding that on Friday, Hinton family members and Cincinnati police attended a meeting together “to view body camera video of Ryan Hinton’s shooting death.”
Rodney Hinton Jr. is charged with aggravated murder in connection with Hamilton County Deputy Larry Henderson’s death. (Hamilton County)
“Ryan Hinton’s family, including Ryan’s father, was present at the meeting and they were understandably distraught as they watched the bodycam video,” the family’s attorneys 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.”
The attorneys offered their “heartfelt condolences to the family and colleagues of the officer who was killed yesterday.”
“This is an unimaginable tragedy for this community. Ryan Hinton’s family is heartbroken by this tragic turn of events and we are all devastated for the family of the officer who was killed,” the attorneys said.
Workers fix the traffic lights at Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods in Corryville, a day after a Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy was struck and killed while directing traffic for the University of Cincinnati commencement on May 2, 2025. Rodney Hinton, Jr., 38, has been charged with aggravated murder in the crash. (© Liz Dufour/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Ohio Franternal Order of Police (FOP) President Jay McDonald said in a Monday statement that Ryan’s father, Rodney Hinton Jr., “intentionally murdered a retired deputy who was working special duty at a graduation just because he was a police officer.”
Henderson was a 33-year officer with the HCSO and served in multiple specialized units since 1991, including the dive team, HCPA SWAT, FBI Task Force Officer and the HCSO Bomb Unit.
“In Deputy Henderson’s early tenure as a Sheriff’s Deputy, I recognized his talent for teaching and presentation,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said in a Sunday statement. “Larry began his journey as a Sheriff’s Office trainer early in his career. He developed an expertise and became an excellent trainer. Subsequently, he trained divisions of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that included hundreds of deputy sheriffs. His ability to relate to and touch officers’ lives was extraordinary. We will continue to honor Larry’s life of service.”
Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine ordered flags be lowered to half-mast in Henderson’s honor on Sunday.
