A 38-year-old man has been charged with the death of a Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy in what the governor dubbed “an intentional act of violence.”
Authorities charged Rodney Hinton Jr. with aggravated murder; he is currently being housed at the Clermont County Jail for his safety. According to reports, Cincinnati police shot and killed his 18-year-old son the previous day.
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Tyrone Yates declined to set bond for Hinton, who appeared in court on Saturday. Another hearing for Hinton is set for Tuesday.
“He’s going to be gone forever,” Hinton purportedly told deputies in the courtroom, WLWT-TV reported.
The deputy, identified by ABC News as Larry Henderson, was directing traffic at about 1 p.m. at the intersection of Martin Luther King and Burnet Woods drives near the University of Cincinnati campus when he was struck by a car, WLWT-TV reported. The school’s graduation was on Friday.
“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 statement, according to Spectrum 1 News. “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,” McGuffey added. “His ability to relate to and touch officers’ lives was extraordinary. We will continue to honor Larry’s life of service.”
The sheriff’s office plans to retire Henderson’s badge number, 129.
“The investigation is ongoing, but if the facts show this act was intentional, as the charge suggests, I will throw the full force of the law at the perpetrator,” WLWT-TV quoted Hamilton County prosecutor Connie Pillich as saying. “I implore people not to act rashly so there is not another tragedy.”
On Friday morning, Hinton and his family met at their lawyer’s office to watch police footage of his son’s death, the BBC reported. The footage made Hinton “understandably distraught,” and he could not finish watching it, lawyer Michael Wright said in a statement, per the report.
According to Fox 19, the son was “one of four people inside a stolen vehicle that was found in a parking lot Thursday on Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill.” According to reports, the son brandished a gun at police during the investigation.
“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 lawyer said in the statement, according to the BBC.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy for this community,” the statement added. “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.”
Elected officials across the Buckeye State reacted to the news.
“Fran and I are saddened to learn about the Hamilton County deputy hit by a vehicle and killed in the line of duty today,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement. “I have been briefed on the ongoing investigation and am sickened by what appears to be an intentional act of violence. We offer our sincere condolences to the deputy’s family, friends, and colleagues.”
Lt. Governor Jim Tressel offered a similar sentiment.
“Ellen and I were saddened to learn of the line of duty death today of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy who was directing traffic at the University of Cincinnati’s graduation,” Tressel said in a statement. “As a former university president, graduation day should be filled with celebration and instead the community is grieving a terrible tragedy.”
