A Hamilton County jury on Friday, October 23, rejected Rodney Hinton Jr.'s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and found him guilty of murder in the death of retired sheriff's deputy Larry Henderson. Jurors convicted Hinton of murder, reckless homicide and felonious assault but did not convict on the more serious aggravated murder charges, according to FOX19.
Judge Jody Luebbers set sentencing for November 16. Prosecutors are asking for 15 years to life in prison.
A day of grief, then a crash
Henderson, who spent 33 years in law enforcement, was directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati during graduation events on May 2, 2025, when Hinton's car struck him. The day before, a Cincinnati police officer had shot and killed Hinton's son, Ryan Hinton, while responding to a report of a stolen vehicle. That shooting was later found justified.
Hinton watched body camera video of his son's death shortly before the crash. Family members said he was "upset" and "agitated" afterward, NBC News reported. Police said he "accelerated quickly" through the intersection where Henderson was standing, with no indication he tried to stop.
The insanity question
The case was always going to turn on Hinton's mind. A court-appointed psychologist found that a serious mental illness impaired his rational judgment, and two other medical professionals agreed. In January, prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death penalty after agreeing with the defense that Hinton had a serious mental illness at the time, which bars capital punishment under Ohio law.
"He was not in his right mind," defense attorney Clyde Bennett said then. Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich answered that "Mr. Hinton deliberately killed an innocent man."
Agreeing that a defendant is seriously mentally ill is not the same as agreeing he is legally insane, and that gap decided the trial. Under the insanity standard the jury applied, the question was whether Hinton knew the difference between right and wrong when he hit Henderson.
In closing arguments on October 20, Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burroughs opened with four words. "This was murder." She leaned on a crash reconstruction witness who testified that Hinton turned the car at the last moment toward Henderson, and on a forensic psychologist who found Hinton was not insane. Hinton was grieving and angry, she said, but he "made a terrible choice."
Bennett told jurors that an acquittal or a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity was the only just outcome. He argued that Hinton was suicidal and was trying to drive into a utility pole, and that the car struck Henderson by accident. He also told jurors they could not let sympathy for the Henderson family decide the case, and pointed out that the prosecution's own psychologist found no sign Hinton tried to hide evidence or lie about what happened, two signs Bennett said bear on whether a defendant understood his act was wrong.
What comes next
Bennett told FOX19 he was disappointed and believes the body camera video sealed the murder conviction. He plans to file an appeal within 30 days of sentencing.
Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said, "We have some finality." Prosecutors said Henderson's "family will never truly be able to fill that void."
The verdict shows how hard an insanity defense can be to win, even when both sides agree a defendant is seriously ill. The same tension ran through the Massachusetts case covered in our report on postpartum psychosis and the Lindsay Clancy defense, and through our look at how the legal system handles mental illness.
It is the kind of case the Two Taps legal panel of Daniel Rosenberg, Michael Dye and Lloyd Golburgh takes apart on the show.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
