WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Woodford County family learned today that Ronald Exantus, the man who police say killed their 6-year-old son Logan Tipton in 2015, has been released from prison early for good behavior.
The Tipton family says Exantus caused irreversible damage when he entered their home as a stranger and attacked their family while they were asleep. Logan died from his injuries, while his sister Dakota survived being stabbed.
Crime
Man accused of killing a 6-year-old Versailles boy in 2015 has been released
"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," Heather Tipton said.
Dakota described the horrific experience. She said that Exantus stabbed her in the back, and then stomped on her head.
"And I remember waking up across the room, not where I was at, and I looked and he was killing Logan and Logan was screaming," Dakota said.
Exantus's defense attorney said he was in a state of psychosis when he entered the room Logan and Dakota shared. In 2018, three years after the attack, Exantus was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity but guilty of assaulting other family members.
Dean Tipton, Logan's father, believes the sentence was inadequate regardless of Exantus's mental state.
"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," Dean said. "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."
The father also expressed concerns about his family's 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 said.
Exantus will remain under probation and parole supervision until his sentence ends next year. The family has been told he is heading to Florida to serve his mandatory reentry supervision.
Heather criticized the state's lack of communication regarding their safety.
"Nobody from the state has contacted us to ask us if we thought about needing security, extra protection, anything like that," she said. "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."
The eldest sister, Koral, expressed frustration with Kentucky's judicial system.
"I will say that till I turn blue in the face every day I breathe, I will talk about how the judicial system of Kentucky has ruined our family," she said.
Despite their pain, the family remains determined not to let this tragedy define them completely.
"The mentality that we have kept through this whole thing is we're not gonna let him take one more thing from us. He's taken all he's going to take," Heather said.
Dean Tipton summed up the family's feelings about the early release.
"It just seems like a 6-year-old's life is worth more than 10 years in prison," he said.
