A 42-year-old Indiana man, Ronald Exantus, convicted of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy in 2015, was released Friday from prison early for alleged good behavior, according to multiple reports.
In 2018, Exantus was sentenced to 20 years for breaking into the home of 6-year-old Logan Tipton, fatally stabbing him, and later attacking his family, WLKY reported. Having served less than half his sentence, Exantus was released on parole, prompting the Tipton family to speak out against the decision.
“You took a human being’s life, not just a human being, a 6-year-old boy who had yet to even begun, to begin to live,” Logan’s father, Dean Tipton told Lex18. “You know, so my thing is, mentally ill or not, you should be … you take a life. Your life should be at least life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
In December 2015, Exantus, a dialysis nurse, drove from Indianapolis to Versailles, Ky., and broke into the Tipton family’s home, according to WKYT. Once inside, he used a kitchen knife to fatally stab 6-year-old Logan as he slept and injured the boy’s father and two sisters.
Logan’s screams woke his sister Dakota, who was stabbed in the back and had her head stomped on by Exantus, according to LEX18.
“He didn’t just kill my son. He killed every member of my family, every single one of us, and every person that’s sitting here today is a completely different person than they were when they went to bed December 6,” Logan’s mother Heather Tipton told the outlet.
During his six-day trial in 2018, Exantus’s attorney said he was insane and committed the attacks while in a state of psychosis, WDRB reported. He was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity but guilty of assaulting the other family members.
Exantus was sentenced to 10 years for each second-degree assault charge and one year for a fourth-degree assault, according to WKYT. He became eligible for parole in December 2019 and was denied in 2021 until this year, the outlet reported.
In response to Exantus’ early release, the Tipton family expressed not only their outrage but also concerns for their personal safety.
“As a father, I fear that he may come back and try to finish what, because, if I remember right, he told Coral that he was going to kill everyone,” Dean told Lex18.
“Nobody from the state has contacted us to ask us if we thought about needing security, extra protection, anything like that,” Heather added, according to the outlet. “If you’re a victim and there’s something like a violent criminal that’s going to be released that is in connection to you or your case, or whatever, I think you should be offered some sort of security or protection, or at least just a phone call.”
Since his release, Exantus reportedly traveled to Florida to begin his mandatory reentry supervision and will remain under probation and parole monitoring until next year, according to Lex18.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Joe Gratz/Flickr)
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