Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is vowing to reform the state's insanity defense statute after a man who stabbed a six-year-old child more than 20 times to death was acquitted of capital murder by reason of insanity by a Kentucky jury in 2018.
"Alleging that you can't tell right from wrong should not exonerate you from a violent crime," Uthmeier said. "Moral incompacity should only be used during sentencing to determine if someone should spend the rest of their life in prison, or in a high-security hospital. We cannot allow what happened in Kentucky to ever occur in Florida."
Just days ago, Ronald Exantus, who stabbed Logan Tipton to death while he was sleeping in 2015 in Kentucky, was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) for violating parole after failing to register within 48 hours as a convicted felon with the local sheriff's office, as required by Florida law.
According to the Office of Attorney General Uthmeier, MCSO personnel received information that Exantus, 42, had recently moved to Florida to serve mandatory re-entry supervision after living in Kentucky following his early release on lesser counts in the 2015 crime.
Exantus was sentenced to 20 years, but served less than half his sentence and was placed on parole before being released from custody.
After confirming Exantus was living in Marion County, deputies arrested him at 14790 SW 43rd Terrace in Marion Oaks, not far from a local elementary and middle school.
Exantus has since been extradited to Kentucky, where he will face penalties for failing to maintain the terms of his early release.
“Today, this child murderer is on his way back to Kentucky—where he belongs," Uthmeier said earlier this week. “I want to thank Statewide Prosecutor McVay, State Attorney Gladson, Sheriff Woods, and Department of Corrections Secretary Dixon for their vigilance and decisive action. I encourage all violent criminals to stay far away from Florida.”
