Author: Emmy Phem

Rodney Hinton Jr. faces aggravated murder charges in the death of Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson. The crash happened May 2, 2025. Hinton has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Jody Luebbers ruled Thursday that jurors can also consider reckless homicide as a lesser charge. She made the call after hearing from both sides.

Defense attorney Clyde Bennett said evidence could point to different intents. He argued Hinton’s actions looked consistent with suicide or with homicide. Bennett pointed to Hinton’s history of mental illness and major depressive disorder. Relatives feared Hinton might harm himself after he watched police body-camera video of his son Ryan’s fatal shooting hours earlier.

Prosecutors opposed the lesser charge. Prosecutor Kip Guinan said the state believes Hinton intentionally targeted Henderson. Guinan argued that suicide itself is intentional, not reckless.

Luebbers said the reckless homicide question focuses on Henderson’s death, not on whether Hinton meant to kill himself. She noted conflicting eyewitness accounts. Some said Hinton drove straight at the deputy. One said he aimed at a utility pole first and the car bounced into Henderson.

The judge told jurors they will decide how much weight to give each witness. The aggravated murder charge stays in place. Jurors simply get one more option when they deliberate.

State psychologist Dr. Jaime Adkins testified that Hinton had schizoaffective disorder but showed no acute symptoms that day. She said grief and trauma from his son’s death explained his behavior. Adkins concluded Hinton still knew his actions were wrong.

A motorcycle struck a concrete wall on the Ontario Street feeder ramp just before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The rider went over the edge. She dropped onto the southbound lanes of the Kennedy Expressway.

Her name was Kaitlin Rose Wagner Zbonski. She was 29 and lived on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The crash happened in Cook County.

Paramedics took her to Stroger Hospital. She was pronounced dead at 3:51 p.m. The medical examiner’s office made it official.

Illinois State Police shut down several lanes. The expressway stayed closed until about 6 p.m. Drivers sat in long backups while the cleanup finished.

The feeder ramp links local streets to the big highway. It sees heavy traffic every day. One wrong move and the wall is right there.

No other cars got hit in the reports so far. The bike alone made contact with the concrete. Then gravity took over.

Police keep working the case. They have not released more on speed or road conditions. The ramp stays a spot drivers watch close now.

Kaitlin Rose Wagner Zbonski was 29. She lived on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Wednesday afternoon she rode her motorcycle on the Ontario Street feeder ramp of the Kennedy Expressway.

Shortly before 3 p.m. the bike hit a concrete wall. She went over the wall. She landed on the southbound lanes of traffic below.

Crews got her to Stroger Hospital. Doctors pronounced her dead at 3:51 p.m. The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed it.

Illinois State Police handled the scene. Several lanes of the expressway closed after the crash. They reopened around 6 p.m.

The ramp sits in Cook County. It feeds into one of Chicago’s busiest roads. Traffic backed up for hours while crews worked.

Zbonski drove alone that day. No other vehicles were involved according to the first reports. The wall stopped the bike cold.

Investigators still look at what happened on that ramp. No extra details have come out yet. Her name now marks another fatal crash on the Kennedy.

A motorcycle carrying two people hit a curve on the Barrancas Avenue Bridge Wednesday night. The driver lost control around 8 p.m. The bike crashed hard.

Angela Nieto rode as the passenger. She worked as a detective for the Pensacola Police Department. She was off duty at the time. She died at the scene.

The man driving was a friend of hers. He went to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. His name stays private for now.

Pensacola police teamed up with the Florida Highway Patrol on the investigation. No one has said exactly why the bike went down in that curve.

The crash shut down the bridge that connects Barrancas Avenue and Pace Boulevard. It crosses Bayou Chico in Escambia County. The city of Pensacola sits in Florida’s Panhandle near Alabama.

Authorities still dig into the details. The precise cause remains unknown. The driver remains unidentified in public reports.

Local crews responded fast. The bridge saw heavy activity that night. Questions about the crash linger with no fresh answers yet.

Angela Nieto sat on the back of a motorcycle Wednesday night. She was off duty. A male friend drove. They headed east on the Barrancas Avenue Bridge over Bayou Chico.

Around 8 p.m. the driver lost control in a curve. The bike went down. Nieto died right there on the bridge.

The friend got hurt but not in a life-threatening way. Ambulances took him to a local hospital. Nieto stayed at the scene.

Pensacola police and the Florida Highway Patrol both work the case now. They have not said what made the driver lose control. They have not named the man either.

The bridge links the area near Barrancas Avenue and Pace Boulevard. It sits in Escambia County. Pensacola sits in Florida’s western Panhandle close to the Alabama line.

Nieto worked as a detective for the Pensacola Police Department. She rode as a passenger that night. The crash ended her life in seconds.

Friends and fellow officers still wait for answers. The investigation continues with no new details released yet.

A young New Jersey man lost his life in a brutal overnight hit-and-run crash while walking along a dark Philadelphia roadway.

Philadelphia Police Department officers received an urgent call reporting an unconscious person lying in the middle of the road on North Delaware Avenue.

When patrol units arrived at the scene around 12:53 a.m. Thursday, October 15, they found a young adult male suffering from severe head trauma.

Paramedics attempted life-saving measures right there on the pavement, but the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators identified the deceased pedestrian as 23-year-old Brendan Casuscelli, who lived across the river in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Preliminary findings from the accident reconstruction team indicate that Casuscelli was struck by a fast-moving vehicle that blew right past him.

Investigators discovered deep tire marks etched into the asphalt directly next to where Casuscelli’s body was found abandoned in the street.

Police have zero witnesses, no suspect vehicle descriptions, and no arrests as homicide detectives scour the industrial corridor for security camera footage.

Detroit homicide detectives are hunting for the occupants of a dark sedan following a fatal drive-by shooting that left a teenager dead and another young man wounded.

Police units responded to emergency calls near Chalmers Street and East Warren Avenue shortly before 7:00 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators determined that four people were relaxing inside a Jeep Grand Cherokee when an unknown suspect vehicle drove past and unleashed a hail of gunfire.

The shooter struck a 16-year-old female passenger multiple times before the driver sped away through the east side neighborhood.

The teenage girl died from her injuries after being transported to an area trauma center by first responders.

Paramedics also transported a 19-year-old male passenger to the hospital for emergency treatment of a gunshot wound to his hip.

Detectives are canvassing nearby homes and commercial buildings along Chalmers Avenue to gather security camera footage and identify the suspect vehicle.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to contact the Detroit Police Department Homicide Section or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

A evening gathering inside a parked vehicle turned into a deadly ambush on Detroit’s east side when gunmen sprayed bullets into a Jeep Grand Cherokee, killing a 16-year-old girl.

The gunfire erupted around 6:53 p.m. Tuesday, October 13, 2026, in the 4700 block of Chalmers Avenue near East Warren Avenue.

Four young people were sitting together inside the parked SUV when a dark-colored sedan slowly pulled up alongside them.

Without warning, someone inside the passing sedan opened fire, raining bullets directly into the passenger side of the Jeep.

The 16-year-old girl took the brunt of the gunfire, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to her body.

Emergency medical crews rushed the teenage victim to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead a short time later.

A 19-year-old man sitting in the vehicle was hit in the hip during the barrage and was hospitalized, while two other passengers managed to duck down and escape physical harm.

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison and Mayor Mary Sheffield arrived at the crime scene Tuesday night, pledging to track down the shooters responsible for the senseless violence.

Authorities and Crime Stoppers of Michigan are now offering a $5,000 cash reward for any anonymous tips leading to the arrest of the shooter.

Detectives are interviewing family members in Queens after a mother called 911 to report a violent incident that left her five-year-old daughter dead.

Police responded to the family’s home on 110th Street in the South Richmond Hill section around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Officers entered the house and found the five-year-old victim unresponsive in a bedroom with visible trauma and bleeding around her face.

Ambulance crews transported the young girl to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where medical personnel declared her deceased a short time later.

The victim’s mother was taken directly from the home to an area hospital for medical care and psychiatric evaluation while officers secured the property.

Crime scene investigators cordoned off the block with yellow tape, searching the interior of the home for evidence connected to the mother’s initial assault report.

Law enforcement officials confirmed no formal charges have been filed, and the case remains an active investigation as authorities await autopsy findings.

A quiet Queens neighborhood became the center of a homicide investigation after a five-year-old girl died inside a family residence on 110th Street.

Emergency dispatchers received an urgent 911 call from the child’s mother reporting an active assault inside the South Richmond Hill home shortly before 7:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Patrol officers from the local precinct rushed to the two-story house, forcing their way into a back bedroom to reach the young victim.

First responders located the child lying completely unresponsive on a bed, bleeding heavily from her nose and mouth.

Paramedics provided CPR at the scene before rushing the little girl to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition.

Medical staff at the emergency room attempted life-saving measures, but doctors pronounced the five-year-old dead shortly after her arrival.

Police officers detained the child’s mother, a woman in her early 30s, at the scene and transported her to a nearby hospital for psychological evaluation.

Detectives from the NYPD Special Victims Unit and Homicide Squad gathered outside the home overnight, questioning family members who lived inside the residence.

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner took custody of the body to conduct an autopsy and determine the exact cause of death.