'Everyone's hurting': Family of 18-year-old shot by Cincinnati officer speaks out
The family of the 18-year-old shot by police during a chase spoke out for the first time Monday.
Attorneys with the Cochran Firm in Avondale said they have been hired to represent the estate of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton.
Hinton was shot by an unnamed Cincinnati officer during a foot chase in East Price Hill Thursday. The following afternoon, Cincinnati police say Ryan's father, Rodney Hinton Jr., drove a car into retired Hamilton County sheriff's Deputy Larry Henderson who was directing traffic before a graduation ceremony at the University of Cincinnati.
Attorney Michael Wright offered his condolences to the family of Deputy Henderson, but he made it clear that Monday's news conference was to discuss Thursday's deadly police shooting.
"This family is very upset about what occurred," Wright said.
Wright said the family met with Cincinnati police Chief Terri Theetge Friday and viewed body camera footage that captured Thursday's incident as it unfolded.
"What we saw was disturbing. The family was upset," Wright said.
He said Hinton's loved ones left Chief Theetge's office and learned about the crash that claimed Deputy Henderson's life hours later.
"We are here because we represent the estate in the police-involved shooting. We're trying to get the family some answers," Wright said, adding Ryan Hinton's loved ones were only shown one angle of the incident and have requested additional body camera footage, records and reports to "analyze what occurred."
"We believe this incident should be investigated and it's not that cut and dry," Wright said.
Multiple family members of Ryan Hinton also spoke during Monday's news conference, sharing who Ryan was and their feelings about the entire situation.
"My brother - he was always a real jokester, playing with everybody, making sure everybody was good," Diamonte Jackson, Ryan's older brother, said.
Rodney Hinton Sr., Ryan's grandfather, also spoke. He offered condolences to Deputy Henderson's family and prayers for the officer who shot and killed his grandson.
"I seen in the video about my grandson, I seen two scared people, I seen the officer scared, and I seen my grandson scared. So it's an unfortunate incident that happened," Hinton Sr. said. "What I seen was two persons made a mistake. My grandson made a mistake of being there and the officer was trying to back to his family too. It's not about revenge or anything."
Hinton Sr. said going forward he wants everybody to heal as the investigation moves forward.
Ryan Hinton's grandmother, Tonya Larkin, also spoke during the news conference.
"We are very close, very close family. This is killing us," Larkin said. "I can't even express how I feel right now about.. I'm angry because it should've never happened. I want to find out exactly what steps was taken and the protocol. And if everything comes out that it's not what it should have been, we need to do something about change in training and diversity and understanding us as a black culture. We as black people, we don't deserve to be killed just because we're running away from the police. We're scared just as much as they are, whether we did something right or wrong. This is everyday life for us. Being scared of the police. Take that in consideration.
Damarlyn Howard, Ryan's cousin, got emotional, saying Ryan was supposed to be home the night before he was shot and killed.
"He had no business being in a stolen car. He had a bed to come home to," Howard said, sharing that Ryan had trouble getting into the family's house so he slept in a car.
When asked about next steps and the possibility of litigation, Wright said once he and his colleagues analyze all of the information they received they'll make a decision about next steps.
"This was a tragedy all the way around. Ryan was shot and killed. This police officer (referring to Deputy Henderson) lost his life. His family is suffering. This (the Hinton) family is suffering. There's a lot of healing that has to happen here soon," Wright said, encouraging people to wait and see how multiple investigations play out and pray for the families involved.
"I would hope that the tensions in this city would relax, that everyone just wait and not rush to judgment on either side and hopefully we can get through this very tragic situation," Wright said.
See previous coverage of the story below.
18-year-old Ryan Hinton died after being shot by an officer during a chase in East Price Hill Thursday.
The incident unfolded in "six quick seconds" according to police, when officers responded to a report of a stolen Kia out of northern Kentucky.
As officers approached, Cincinnati Police Chief Terri Theetge said four people fled from the vehicle, with at least one of them armed with a gun.
As they were being chased, police said one officer fired several shots, striking Hinton twice.
Video of the chase and subsequent shooting were released Friday.
"He's got a gun, he's got a gun. On your right," one officer could be heard saying to another officer on the body camera footage before several shots could be heard.
Police recovered a gun at the scene with an extended magazine and another magazine in his pocket. Another firearm was also recovered in the stolen Kia.
The other three suspects ran off. Two were taken into custody away from the complex following a lengthy search using K9 units and drones. A third was arrested on Saturday.
On Saturday, representatives of the Hinton family shared a statement, offering more information about what happened in the interim between the shooting death of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton by Cincinnati police on Thursday morning and the alleged murder of a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy by Ryan Hinton's father, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr., on Friday afternoon.
According to the statement released by the law firm, Rodney Hinton Jr. is said to have left a meeting with Cincinnati police on Friday where he and other family members were gathered to watch the police body camera footage that was captured the day before from the shooting death of Ryan Hinton. According to the statement from the law firm, he and other family members were "distraught" throughout the duration of the meeting.
As he left, the family's statement said Rodney Hinton Jr. drove away in his car alone.
Rodney Hinton is charged with aggravated murder in the deputy's death. He's accused of intentionally driving into the deputy near University of Cincinnati's campus.
Ryan Hinton's family is being represented by attorneys Michael Wright, Shean Williams and Robert Gresham of The Cochran Firm as well as Anthony Pierson of Pierson and Pierson, LLC as they investigate the officer-involved shooting from Thursday.
Read the full statement from The Cochran Firm below.
"Our firm was hired by members of Ryan Hinton's family to conduct an investigation into his shooting death by an officer with the Cincinnati Police Department. We are in the preliminary stages of that investigation."
"Yesterday, we attended a meeting between the family and members of the Cincinnati Police Department to view body camera video of Ryan Hinton's shooting death."
"Ryan Hinton's family, including Ryan's father, was present at the meeting and they were understandably distraught as they watched the bodycam video. After the meeting with the police department, Ryan Hinton's father left in his own vehicle and that was the last we heard from him until learning about the tragic incident involving a law enforcement officer who was working a traffic detail near the University of Cincinnati."
"On behalf of Ryan Hinton's family, we offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and colleagues of the officer who was killed yesterday."
"This is an unimaginable tragedy for this community. Ryan Hinton's family is heartbroken by this tragic turn of events and we are all devastated for the family of the officer who was killed."