The father of an 18-year-old man who was fatally shot by Cincinnati police on May 1 allegedly struck and killed a sheriff’s deputy the next day.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said in a press conference shared by WOWT on Friday, May 2, that a Hamilton County deputy was hit by a car while conducting “traffic enforcement.”
According to Theetge, the officer, whose identity has not been released, died as a result of the auto accident, which occurred around 1 p.m. local time along Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods Drive, near the University of Cincinnati campus.
She also claimed that there was a link between this incident and the officer-involved shooting the day before, on Thursday, May 1. “The driver of today’s vehicle that struck a deputy has a family relationship with the 18-year-old that we shot yesterday,” said the department’s police chief.
Ryan Hinton, 18, was among four people discovered inside a stolen vehicle parked on Warsaw Avenue in East Price Hill, according to WOWT, the Cincinnati Inquirer, and CNN. Ryan and the other three people reportedly attempted to flee the vehicle, and while running, Ryan allegedly pointed a handgun at officers.
An officer shot the armed suspect, later identified as Ryan. According to Cincinnati police, the 18-year-old died as a result of his injuries.
During the news conference, Chief Theetge confirmed to reporters that Ryan’s father, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr., was the suspect who struck the Hamilton County deputy. He was eventually charged with aggravated murder, according to WLWT.
On Saturday, May 3, Rodney made his first court appearance.
During the court appearance, which was attended by several members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, prosecuting attorney Ryan Nelson stated, according to CNN, that the 38-year-old “in a way that was calculated and premeditated lined up his car, deliberately accelerated his car, and purposely caused the death of an on-duty deputy sheriff.”
“It appeared from everybody who was on the scene that he deliberately struck the deputy in an attempt to kill him,” Nelson said in court, according to the outlet.
Rodney’s attorney argued that he had no prior felonies and asked the judge for bond, which was denied, according to WLWT. He also described it as a “emotionally charged” situation because Rodney’s son had been killed by police officers.
A reporter captured a video of Rodney allegedly telling officers gathered in court that his son was “going to be gone forever, forever.”
In the news conference, Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey described the officer who died in the incident as a “tremendous person” who had retired from the department in December and was working a special detail for the University of Cincinnati commencement ceremonies that week.
“I knew the man and I knew what a tremendous, tremendous person he is and what tremendous loss we have all suffered,” McGuffey said with a beaming face.