A Hamilton County jury is scheduled to begin deliberations at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, October 21, in the trial of Rodney Hinton Jr., after closing arguments took up most of the day on Tuesday, October 20, in Cincinnati.
Hinton is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Hamilton County sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson, who was struck by a car on May 2, 2025, while handling traffic control for a University of Cincinnati graduation ceremony. Hinton has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and the trial before Common Pleas Judge Jody Luebbers has centered on his mental state at the time.
In closing, prosecutor Guinan argued that Hinton’s own words show intent, pointing to Hinton telling a psychologist who asked whether he was angry at police: “Not him particularly.” “He was angry at police,” Guinan told jurors. “His own words.” A crash reconstruction expert testified the car accelerated to about 45 miles per hour toward Henderson.
Guinan told jurors that when Henderson tried to move away, Hinton steered the car into him, and that damage showed the center of the car struck Henderson while the front right side struck a pole almost simultaneously. Prosecutors have argued throughout the trial that Hinton deliberately drove into the deputy.
The defense has presented a different account of Hinton’s mental state. Hours before the crash, Hinton had been shown police body camera video of his 18-year-old son, Ryan, being fatally shot by a Cincinnati police officer. His attorneys have argued he experienced a brief psychotic episode, and his counsel suggested a voice Hinton described hearing was a hallucination.
Psychologists have testified on both sides. Two psychologists for the state testified that Hinton knew the wrongfulness of his actions, including forensic psychologist Jennifer O’Donnell, who examined Hinton and testified he told her he was “just angry” about the loss of his son and admitted he “hit the gas” before the collision. The defense presented trauma-focused testimony supporting its insanity argument.
The jury of seven women and five men can also consider a lesser verdict of reckless homicide, punishable by up to three years in prison, under a ruling by Judge Luebbers. The trial began October 5 with jury selection, and the panel’s deliberations beginning Wednesday will decide between the competing accounts of intent and mental state presented over two weeks of testimony.