An Ohio man has been convicted of trying to murder his ex-wife after allegedly attempting to shoot her as she ate with her family at a Toledo restaurant. The terrifying confrontation was captured on surveillance video.
Matthew Exton, 43, a former attorney, was drinking at Souk restaurant on April 11, 2025, when he saw his ex-wife, Kada Malone, dining with her parents at the nearby Italian restaurant Sabira, according to the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.
Exton went inside Sabira, ordered a drink for Malone’s table, spat toward the group and then left the restaurant.
Surveillance footage shows Exton returning moments later with a handgun. He raised the weapon within inches of Malone’s head and pulled the trigger as she lifted her hands toward her face.
The gun did not fire.
Matthew Exton points a gun at the head of his ex-wife, Kada Malone, while sitting in a Toledo restaurant with her parents on April 11, 2025. (Viral Press)
Prosecutors said the handgun’s safety was still engaged, preventing it from firing. Before Exton could attempt another shot, a waiter tackled him from behind.
Authorities said a round was loaded in the chamber, with seven additional bullets in the magazine.
“The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day,” Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates said in a statement. “The employees and patrons who stepped in to stop the defendant that day are heroes.”
Bates also praised the jury after it found Exton guilty on Sept. 4 of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault and two firearm specifications tied to each of the three charges.
Matthew Exton’s booking photo, dated April 12, 2025, the day after he walked into a Toledo restaurant and tried to gun down his ex-wife Kada Malone. (Lucas County Sheriff’s Office)
The felonious assault charges involved Malone’s parents, Jeannie Malone and Charles Malone.
The day the jury handed down their guilty verdict, Exton had an outburst in the courtroom and had to be removed.
During the prosecutor’s closing arguments, they pointed to a voicemail Exton left for Malone prior to the attempted shooting that referenced the Johnny Cash lyric “Sooner or later God will cut you down,” WTOL 11 reported.
Prosecutors said the message was an instance of threatening behavior that spoke to Exton’s motive and state of mind ahead of the crime.
Exton, who appeared to take issue with the prosecutor’s framing of the voicemail, then began screaming the lyrics to “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” as court officers removed him. At another point, he made a gun-like gesture with his fingers and pointed it at assistant Lucas County Prosecutor Rose Mock.
The jury was instructed by the judge to disregard Exton’s conduct and not let it impact their deliberations.
Exton, a former lawyer and local prosecutor, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21, 2026.
