Background: Rodney Hinton Jr. in court (Law&Crime). Inset: Deputy Larry Henderson (Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office).
The wife of a retired Ohio sheriff’s deputy, allegedly killed by a man infuriated over his son’s death involving another police officer, is taking legal action against the suspect’s relatives for their fundraising efforts.
Rodney Hinton Jr., aged 38, is currently held in the Clermont County Jail, facing charges for the murder of 57-year-old retired Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson. On May 2, Hinton is accused of using his vehicle to strike Henderson while the deputy was directing traffic for the University of Cincinnati’s commencement events. Just a day prior, Hinton’s son was shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer.
Following the incident, Hinton’s family turned to online platforms such as GoFundMe and GiveSendGo to raise funds for legal fees and family expenses. This move was met with disapproval from several Ohio officials and law enforcement groups, who managed to have some of these fundraisers removed. A lawsuit from Henderson’s widow, filed on July 14, claims that Hinton’s relatives “have campaigned for and collected over $100,000.00 by leveraging Rodney Hinton’s public image and notoriety.”
The lawsuit, which was reviewed by Law&Crime, names Hinton and members of his family as parties. The document acknowledges that while Ohio law prohibits a suspect or a criminal from profiting from their crimes — by, for example, selling their life story for a book, movie, TV show — there is not a provision for crowdfunding. This is widely known as a “Son of Sam” law, named for notorious serial killer David Berkowitz, who sold exclusive rights to his story for profit.
The lawsuit claimed that Hinton’s family members were capitalizing on his “public status and notoriety gained solely through his criminal act of killing Deputy Henderson,” which the suit called “a malicious civil conspiracy.” For that reason, the lawsuit claimed that Hinton’s family members should not be allowed to collect their “ill-gotten gains.”
The suit also names Hinton as responsible for the wrongful death of Henderson due to his “deliberate, intentional, and malicious acts” and asks for “all lawful damages.”
The lawsuit asked that any funds raised by Hinton’s family be turned over to Henderson, in addition to compensatory and punitive damages.
GoFundMe took down the fundraisers connected to Hinton and his family at the request of police groups, according to reporting by the Cincinnati Enquirer. A fundraiser purportedly posted by Hinton’s wife on GiveSendGo was unpublished. All of them were reportedly stated to be intended for funds for legal services meant for Hinton and his family.
Hinton’s defense attorney claimed that his client suffered a psychotic break after police showed him footage of his son, Ryan Hinton, being shot by a Cincinnati police officer. His altered mental state was what led to the alleged attack on Henderson, his lawyer has said.
