The case against a man accused of intentionally driving a car into a sheriff’s deputy last year, killing the deputy, largely hinges on his mental state at the time.
While the facts of the crash are largely not in dispute, Rodney Hinton Jr.’s attorneys are expected to ask a jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity
, meaning that because of his mental illness, he didn’t know the wrongfulness of his actions at the time.Jury selection inHinton’s trial is set to begin Oct. 5 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court before Judge Jody Luebbers.
Prosecutors have charged Hinton, 40, with aggravated murder in the May 2025 killing of Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Larry Henderson. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison. Initially,
prosecutors sought the death penalty, but after multiple pretrial hearings and reports from experts, it was determined that Hinton has a serious mental illness that under state law makes him ineligible for the death penalty.
But even though Hinton is mentally ill – he has been diagnosed with both schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder with psychotic features – he could still be found guilty of murder. Under Ohio law, a diagnosis of mental illness alone is not enough to support a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Prosecutors say Hinton intentionally drove into Henderson. At a court hearing last year, prosecutors said Hinton drove “into the first police officer he saw.”
A psychologist appointed by Luebbers testified at a pretrial hearing that Hinton’s ability to make a rational decision at the time likely was impaired because of his mental illness. Hours earlier, he had watched police body camera video that showed that showed his 18-year-old son, Ryan, being shot by an officer.
But having a lack of judgment under extreme emotional distress is different than finding that he was in a psychotic state at the time of the crash.
Hinton’s attorneys have their own expert, local psychologist Maria Espinola, whose findings have been previewed in pretrial motions and a recent pretrial hearing.
Espinola said in her report that Hinton, at the time of the crash, was not able to recognize the wrongfulness of his actions because of his mental illness.
“He was exhibiting symptoms at the time of the incident that appear to have interfered with his capability (to recognize) the wrongfulness of his actions,” Espinola said, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Espinola made that finding in her report “without articulating the reasoning, clinical observation, testing results or factual basis that led to this conclusion.”
At a final pretrial hearing on Sept. 28, they sought to block Espinola’s testimony about whether Hinton can be found not guilty by reason of insanity. But Luebbers said she will allow it.
'Bizarre behavior'
Court documents say questions about Hinton's mental health date back at least several years. After being jailed on domestic violence charges in 2023, he was placed on suicide watch because he tried to harm himself.
That same year, according to the documents, he showed symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and was hospitalized. He complained of auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as paranoid delusions.
The documents also say that Hinton and his second wife, whom he married in 2017, have separated several times "because of his mood swings and bizarre behavior."
According to testimony at a pretrial hearing, after being hospitalized in 2023, Hinton was prescribed antipsychotic medication. He apparently stopped taking that medication at some point, leading his wife to encourage him to resume psychiatric treatment.
Son's fatal shooting
Hinton was devastated by the fatal shooting of his son, Ryan, which happened May 1, 2025, the day before the killing of Henderson.
The shooting happened behind an East Price Hill apartment complex, as Ryan Hinton ran in the direction of a Cincinnati police officer, holding a gun, which the officer believed was pointed at him.
Rodney Hinton was described as being distraught after learning of his son’s death and at one point said he was in a “blackout state.”
He told a psychologist that when he went to the Cincinnati police building on the morning of May 2, 2025, he thought he would be viewing his son’s body.
“They showed the video of him getting shot, and I couldn’t stay there and couldn’t stand watching that, so I left,” Hinton told a psychologist, according to court documents.
He described feeling anger, frustration and guilt.
Hinton accelerated into deputy, investigators said
After the meeting with police, investigators say Hinton’s family members were concerned about his mental state and didn’t want him driving. His wife, in fact, had taken his car keys.
Hinton was driven away, although it’s not clear where they went. Two hours later, at about 12:40 p.m., they returned with Hinton to the police building’s parking lot to pick up his car, a Ford Focus.
At approximately 12:50 p.m., Hinton drove out of the parking lot. Another family member tried to follow him in another vehicle but ultimately lost him.
Soon after, Hinton was in Clifton, driving east on Martin Luther King Drive, where Deputy Larry Henderson was handling traffic control near the University of Cincinnati for a graduation ceremony.
Traffic was slow-moving, and according to investigators, Hinton drove into a median, near the entrance to Burnet Woods. He stopped just ahead of the intersection where Henderson was standing.
Investigators say Hinton accelerated, crossed into the oncoming traffic lanes and struck Henderson before crashing into a utility pole.
He was arrested soon after.
Jury selection in Hinton's trial is expected to take three days, with both sides making opening statements on Oct. 8.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial of man accused of driving into, killing deputy centers on insanity claim
