Background: Rodney Hinton Jr. in court (Law&Crime). Inset: Deputy Larry Henderson (Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office).
The wife of an Ohio sheriff’s deputy who was allegedly murdered by a man angry over the death of his son at the hands of another cop is suing the suspect’s family members over their fundraising.
Rodney Hinton Jr., 38, is currently sitting in the Clermont County Jail, charged with the murder of retired Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson, 57. On May 2, Hinton allegedly drove his car into Henderson while the special deputy was directing traffic for the University of Cincinnati’s commencement ceremonies. The day before, Hinton’s son was fatally shot by a Cincinnati cop.
When Hinton’s family used online fundraisers — including GoFundMe and GiveSendGo — to crowdfund money for legal bills and family-related expenses, several Ohio officials and police groups bristled and successfully called for some of them to be taken down. In a lawsuit filed by Henderson’s widow on July 14, the grieving woman said the alleged killer’s family “have campaigned for and collected over $100,000.00 using Rodney Hinton’s public status and notoriety.”
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The lawsuit, which was reviewed by Law&Crime, names Hinton and members of his family as parties. The document acknowledges that while Ohio law prohibits a suspect or a criminal from profiting from their crimes — by, for example, selling their life story for a book, movie, TV show — there is not a provision for crowdfunding. This is widely known as a “Son of Sam” law, named for notorious serial killer David Berkowitz, who sold exclusive rights to his story for profit.
The lawsuit claimed that Hinton’s family members were capitalizing on his “public status and notoriety gained solely through his criminal act of killing Deputy Henderson,” which the suit called “a malicious civil conspiracy.” For that reason, the lawsuit claimed that Hinton’s family members should not be allowed to collect their “ill-gotten gains.”
The suit also names Hinton as responsible for the wrongful death of Henderson due to his “deliberate, intentional, and malicious acts” and asks for “all lawful damages.”
The lawsuit asked that any funds raised by Hinton’s family be turned over to Henderson, in addition to compensatory and punitive damages.
GoFundMe took down the fundraisers connected to Hinton and his family at the request of police groups, according to reporting by the Cincinnati Enquirer. A fundraiser purportedly posted by Hinton’s wife on GiveSendGo was unpublished. All of them were reportedly stated to be intended for funds for legal services meant for Hinton and his family.
Hinton’s defense attorney claimed that his client suffered a psychotic break after police showed him footage of his son, Ryan Hinton, being shot by a Cincinnati police officer. His altered mental state was what led to the alleged attack on Henderson, his lawyer has said.
