Teen gets life plus 25 years for killing 4-year-old cousin

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Baltimore City Judge John Howard sentenced a teenager to life in prison Monday for the rape and murder of his 4-year-old cousin.

Ronald Hinton, 17, was sentenced to life plus 25 years for raping and then murdering Ja’Niya Williams while she was in his care.

Before the sentencing, relatives of Ja’Niya expressed betrayal and anger toward Hinton, whose case brought national media attention upon Baltimore.

“[The] impact has been nothing but pain, made worse by the fact that I used to take care of Ronald ... I always made sure Ronald got home safe ... The rest is all anger,” said Ja’Niya’s father, Keenan Woodley, according to a victim’s impact statement.

Hinton said nothing.

Howard’s sentence marked the final chapter in the story of a brutal crime that tore a Baltimore family apart.

Hinton initially told police Ja’Niya had “fallen off the bed” in June 2006, but later confessed to raping and beating her in an upstairs bedroom — at one point chasing her downstairs to retrieve her, the charging documents said.

He also told police he used a belt to beat her. The victim suffered multiple injuries to the head, neck, chest and thigh.

At his trial Hinton later claimed he gave a false confession because he feared police based on what happened to his father. 

In 1992 Ronald’s father Sean Hinton — a Baltimore city police cadet — was found dead floating in the water off the southern tip of Manhattan, N.Y. 

Discovered after he had been missing for 10 days, he was found with his wrists tied together in front of his body.

But a Baltimore City jury didn’t buy the coerced confession theory. The jury convicted Ronald Hinton of rape and murder after four hours of deliberations.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

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