Father Of Black Teen Fatally Shot By Cincinnati Cops Charged With Retired Deputy’s Murder
The father of a Black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by police in Cincinnati, Ohio, is now the defendant in a murder case in which a long-serving sheriff’s deputy who was not involved in the teen’s shooting was killed.
According to CNN, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr. is charged with aggravated murder in the killing of Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson. Hinton is accused of intentionally hitting Henderson with his vehicle last Friday, one day after his son, Ryan Hinton, was shot by police after allegedly fleeing in a stolen vehicle while armed.
On Friday morning, just hours before Hinton allegedly killed Henderson, the family was reviewing police bodycam footage of the day Ryan was shot. Their attorney, Michael Wright, described Hinton as “very distraught” after seeing the video, which Wright said he “couldn’t finish watching.”
Police officers at the scene of Ryan’s shooting reported that the teen was one of four men who were fleeing after officers found them in a stolen car, and that Ryan was armed when he ran. Officers claimed Ryan appeared to point a gun at them as he ran, but the bodycam footage, which even Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge acknowledged was “very blurred,” didn’t show it, leaving the family to demand answers.
BREAKING: Cincinnati Police officer shot and killed 18 years old black kid, Ryan Hinton.
Ryan was running away from the officer after being told to stop. Officer shot him because he believed his life was in “danger.”
Video footage shows Ryan running from away officer and… pic.twitter.com/GKlPbxL2i3
— I Came, I Saw, They died
(@4ortunefame) May 4, 2025
From CNN:
The chief emphasized that just “six quick seconds” passed from the time Hinton and three others attempted to flee arrest and when the deadly shots were fired.
Officers found the four men in a stolen vehicle in a parking lot in Cincinnati’s East Price Hill neighborhood, Theetge said, and observed Hinton appearing to hold a handgun as he ran away, she said.
Body camera footage shows an officer shouting, “He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun! On your right! On your right!” Moments later, the footage shows the teen emerging from between two dumpsters, and another officer fires multiple shots.
That officer, a 10-year veteran assigned to the Fugitive Apprehension Squad, is believed to have fired four to five shots, two of which struck the boy, Theetge said.
The officer who shot Hinton said afterward it looked like the young man’s gun was pointed at him, according to the chief: “He (the officer) felt threatened for his life and that’s why he discharged his firearm.”
“At this point, we are still investigating the circumstances of Ryan being shot and killed by the Cincinnati Police Department,” said Wright, who noted that he has met with the city’s police chief. “The family’s pretty upset, pretty distraught about what happened to their son.”
Again, whether the police-involved fatal shooting of Ryan turns out to be justified or not, Henderson, a recently retired deputy, who, according to NBC News, was “working as a special deputy and directing traffic near the university during graduation events,” was not involved.
“He was so well-liked and so well-known, we could fill this building with the law enforcement agencies that respect him, love him, his friends, his family,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said during a Friday news briefing. “We are so deeply saddened.”
Rodney Hinton is currently being held without bond at the Clermont County Jail. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.
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