New ‘insanity’ proposal after man who fatally stabbed child moved next to Marion County elementary school

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – After a Kentucky man who fatally stabbed a 6-year-old was released from prison early and moved to Central Florida, the state’s attorney general is now pushing for changes to the state’s “insanity defense.”

The attorney general’s office revealed that the man — identified as Ronald Exantus, 42 — had stood trial in 2015 after fatally stabbing a young boy in Versailles, Kentucky.

“He had stabbed 6-year-old Logan Tipton over 20 times in the head while the little boy was sleeping,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said.

However, the attorney general’s office reported that Exantus was found not guilty in Tipton’s death by reason of insanity.

In response to these details, Uthmeier on Friday proposed an “important update” to Florida’s insanity defense statute, arguing that mental infirmity shouldn’t be a defense for violent crimes.

“Alleging that you can’t tell right from wrong should not exonerate you from a violent crime,” he said on X. “Moral incapacity should only be used during sentencing to determine if someone should be spending the rest of their life in prison or in a high-security hospital.”

Exantus was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018, though, for attacks on the child’s father and sisters, state officials said.

But Exantus was released on parole earlier this month, only around seven years into his sentence.

[BELOW: Sheriff’s officials discuss Kentucky “child killer” who was arrested in Florida]

Uthmeier discussed the issue further, announcing that Exantus had been discovered in Florida after his release.

“My office is working with the State Attorney Gladson’s office in Marion County since we were alerted that this dangerous individual who murdered a child by repeatedly stabbing him in the head was in Florida,” Uthmeier wrote at the time.

Afterward, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Exantus had relocated to the area from Kentucky, and he was found at 14790 SW 43rd Terrace in Marion Oaks.

“The home he was residing in was immediately adjacent to Sunrise Elementary School and just a few blocks away from Horizon Academy,” deputies said.

Investigators added that Exantus was taken into custody on a charge of failing to register as a convicted felon within 48 hours, which is required by law. He was later extradited back to Kentucky.

[BELOW: Kentucky felon found in Ocala has been extradited, Marion County sheriff says]

On Friday, Uthmeier proposed an “important update” to Florida’s insanity defense statute, arguing that mental infirmity shouldn’t be a defense for violent crimes.

“Alleging that you can’t tell right from wrong should not exonerate you from a violent crime,” he said on X. “Moral incapacity should only be used during sentencing to determine if someone should be spending the rest of their life in prison or in a high-security hospital.”