A stranger who broke into a family’s home and murdered their six-year-old son was released from prison just ten years later after he ‘took classes’ while incarcerated.
Ronald Exantus, 42, was released from prison on Wednesday after being sentenced in 2018 for stabbing little Logan Tipton to death.
The murderer traveled from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Versailles, Kentucky, on the night of December 6, 2015. There, he entered the Tiptons’ home as they slept through an unlocked door and armed himself with a butcher knife he found in their kitchen.
The former dialysis nurse proceeded upstairs to where the five Tipton siblings were sleeping. The children had decided to stay together in the same room after spending the night watching Christmas movies.
Exantus murdered Logan in the presence of his brother and sisters, stabbing him repeatedly in the head with such force that the large knife used in the frenzied attack bent out of shape.
The killer was sentenced to 20 years in 2018 after being found not guilty by reason of insanity for murdering Tipton. He was found guilty but mentally ill on assault charges. He confessed to the murder after police apprehended him at the home.
Logan’s mother, Heather Tipton, spoke with the Daily Mail about the horrific killing, stating that state officials informed her family that Exantus was released after receiving ‘earned time’ credits while in prison.
Her daughters Koral and Lilly both received a call in June of this year from the state parole board informing them of the decision to release Exantus.
‘Apparently he took some classes, did some things in prison to get some time knocked off his sentence, I don’t know how he got out’, Heather said.
Heather Tipton is seen here with her children. From left to right: Dakota, Logan, Lilly, Aiden and Koral
Logan was stabbed repeatedly in the head with a butcher knife at his home in Kentucky
She added: ‘I knew this day was coming, I knew he was going to be released from prison soon but it is infuriating. He only actually did seven years.
‘He didn’t even do time for murder, he did time for assault charges. I don’t think the jury’s verdict should have been legal.’
According to Heather, Exantus has children of his own also, and had hurt one of his kids while they were a baby.
She said that as the case went to trial, this information was kept from the jury.
The Daily Mail has contacted Family and Social Services in Indianapolis for more information on that claim.
The family exhausted the appeals court process after being sickened by the short sentence Exantus was given, but the courts system stood by the verdict.
‘We went to appeals court and I guess everything checked out, and they never overturned anything. It just doesn’t make sense’, Heather added.
The brutal killing was seemingly unplanned, with Exantus trying numerous addresses on the Tiptons’ street before making his way inside their home.
Heather believes that someone in the small city, situated just outside of Lexington, must have known Exantus or at least been aware of his presence that night.
Exantus, seen here in his most recent prison mugshot, was released early for good behavior
He traveled from Indianapolis to the Tiptons’ home in Versailles in December 2015 where he carried out a series of stabbings
The brutal killing was seemingly unplanned, with Exantus trying numerous addresses on the Tipton’s street before making his way inside their home
Heather said: ‘I don’t know why I think that, but it just doesn’t make sense. He was trying to break into houses before he got to our house.
‘He was up and down, through the neighborhood, calls were going into the police department.
‘That’s how they got to our house so quickly, they were already out looking for him – other people had already called the police.’
Trial testimony pointed to Exantus ending up in the city after leaving Indianapolis to head for Florida to see family, yet he got lost on the way after crossing the state border into Kentucky.
Exantus told officers he had seen a sign for a Gray Street and it reminded him of the medical TV show ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.
He told police at the time that he believed he needed to ‘re-enact surgery’ inside the Tiptons’ home and that the street name ‘made him think of knives for surgery’.
According to court papers at the time seen by the Daily Mail, officers were on the scene within 90 seconds of Koral dialing 911.
It wasn’t just Logan that was attacked either, his sister Dakota was stabbed in the back by Exantus before he proceeded to stomp on her head.
After that, Exantus and Logan’s father Dean started brawling in the children’s bedroom, Dean recalled being thrown across the room after confronting his son’s killer.
Prosecutors disagreed with Exantus’ insanity defense, arguing in court that he was in such a state due to his use of synthetic drugs.
Exantus became eligible for parole in 2019 due to credit for time served and had his parole knocked back in 2021. It was then deferred in 2023 for two years.
Exantus told officers he had seen a sign for a Gray Street and it reminded him of the medical TV show ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
According to court papers at the time seen by the Daily Mail, officers were on the scene within 90 seconds. Heather and Logan are seen here
According to Heather the family are on guard after receiving the news that Exantus was back on the streets, especially after comments he made on that night in 2015.
She added: ‘Obviously we’ve taken measures to protect ourselves better than we were at the time, but there is a palpable fear there.
‘He told my oldest daughter, who was 11 at the time, that ‘I’m going to kill every one of you here’.
‘Something my daughter just told me is she said ‘Mom, I feel like he’s going to come back to finish the job’.’
‘You shouldn’t have to worry about that when somebody is caught in the act with literal blood on their hands’, she said.
The day after the death of her son, Heather moved house with her husband and kids due to the horrors that had unfolded.
It wasn’t just Logan that was attacked – his sister Dakota was also stabbed in the back by Exantus before he proceeded to stomp on her head
The Tipton family said that Exantus was a complete stranger to them and gained access to the home through an unlocked door
After waiting three years for a trial and having to deal with the arduous process of not only that but then appealing his conviction, she lost hope in the state justice system.
She and her husband both took a step back due to exhaustion, giving themselves time to grieve the loss of their son.
‘After the verdict and after the appeal me and my husband took a step back, we’ve got to heal. We’ve got to stop for a little bit.
‘We never really got to officially grieve, we were so heartbroken that we just said we were done. We let my in laws and our children deal with it.
‘It’s strange, it hasn’t set me back personally. I have peace now, I feel there are so many people outraged that something has got to happen.
‘It might not happen to this guy, and we might never get justice for Logan, but if we can help prevent somebody else from going through this – that’s what I want.
‘There has got to be accountability, mental illness or not. There’s got to be some sort of accountability for violent criminals.’
Exantus will remain under probation and parole supervision until his sentence ends next year, and will carry out mandatory re-entry supervision in Florida, the family said.
