Why was a man who killed a Kentucky child released from prison 10 years early?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky law and accrued good-behavior and program credits shortened his sentence.
- He served about nine years plus pretrial time, yielding early mandatory release.
- Parole board denied parole repeatedly, but mandatory supervised release prevailed.
A combination of good behavior, credit for time served before trial, and a Kentucky law intended to help inmates reintegrate in society led to the recent release of a man who stabbed a 6-year-old boy to death 10 years ago in Woodford County.
Ronald Exantus, 42, was released from prison Oct. 1 after serving less than half of his 20-year prison sentence for assaulting the sisters and father of 6-year-old Logan Tipton in 2015. A jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in Logan’s stabbing death.
Word of Exantus’ release spread quickly. Matt Walsh, an influential right-wing commentator, called it “one of the most heinous miscarriages of justice in American history.” Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said it was “wholly unacceptable,” and the White House was “looking into it.” Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, described it as a tragedy.
And on Monday, Kentucky State Police said they were investigating multiple threats against the Kentucky Parole Board, even though the board voted against releasing Exantus from prison.
So, how, exactly, was Exantus released from prison after serving nine years, nine months and 25 days?
Why Exantus was sentenced to 20 years
On Dec. 7, 2015, Exantus drove from Indiana to Kentucky and broke into the Tiptons’ unlocked home on Douglas Avenue. He had never been in the Versailles neighborhood before, and he did not know the Tipton family, according to court documents.
Exantus stabbed Logan in the head with a butcher knife as he lay in bed, and he assaulted Logan’s sisters and father.
He was still at the home when police arrived, and he was arrested and charged with murder.
Kenneth Benedict, a psychologist from North Carolina, was the only mental health expert to testify at Exantus’ trial. He said Exantus’ actions were the result of a major mental illness marked by the presence of mania and psychosis, according to court documents. Exantus continued to display psychotic behavior while incarcerated.
Exantus underwent a mental health evaluation at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center and was prescribed Risperidal, an antipsychotic medication. His condition improved.
“That helped his state of mind immensely,” Kim Green, the lawyer who represented Exantus, said in an interview Monday with the Herald-Leader. “At trial, we presented corrections officers to who talked about how his behavior was night and day.”
Exantus was deemed competent to stand trial after his evaluation at KCPC, but he was still found not guilty by reason of insanity in Logan’s fatal stabbing.
Green said the burden to prove insanity rested on her defense, and she thought Benedict’s testimony proved Exantus was legally insane when he killed Logan.
Benedict evaluated Exantus twice in November 2016, several months after his KCPC evaluation. Court documents say Benedict believed Exantus underwent a psychotic episode during the killing.
“We had to show by preponderance of the evidence that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crime, to such a degree that he either did not know right from wrong, or could not conform his conduct to the law,” Green said.
When a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, Kentucky law requires an involuntary hospitalization proceeding. Court records are unclear if that proceeding happened.
Exantus was also found not guilty by reason of insanity for a first-degree burglary charge, according to court records.
He was convicted of two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault for attacking Logan’s sisters and father.
Why Exantus was released after less than 10 years
Exantus was sentenced in April 2018 to 20 years in prison, with an initial release date of 2035.
But under certain conditions, he could be released in a little less than 10 years.
Green explained in an interview Monday with the Herald-Leader that inmates can earn up to 10 days of credit per month for good behavior, with even more time served credit offered for meritorious and exceptional service.
Inmates can also earn up to 90 days of credit for completing educational or life skills programs while incarcerated, according to Kentucky law.
Green said Exantus’ behavior was good while he was in prison, and he participated in multiple educational and work programs, which contributed to so much time being cut off the back end of his sentence.
“You only earn it per year, so the serve-out date kind of changes as someone progresses through their sentence, because they’re earning more credits,” Green said.
He also began his incarceration in December 2015 following his arrest after the stabbing, meaning by the time he was sentenced in April 2018, he had already served more than two years of his sentence.
Keith Eardley, the prosecutor in Exantus’ case, did not respond to a request for comment on Exantus’ release.
Morgan Hall, spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Corrections, did not immediately provide specifics about the credits Exantus earned while incarcerated.
What’s next for Exantus?
As part of Exantus’ release, he is on mandatory supervised release until June 2026, at which point he will be freed from custody as long as he hasn’t violated the conditions of his release.
Mandatory supervised release, a Kentucky law that took effect in 2012, is granted to qualified inmates who are within six months of their estimated sentence completion date. Inmates on mandatory supervised release are considered to be on parole and can be sent back to prison for violating the terms of the release.
Exantus was released despite objections from the Kentucky Parole Board.
The board, a group of nine people who determine the parole eligibility for inmates, denied Exantus parole on several occasions, including most recently on Sept. 30, said Hall, the spokesperson for the Kentucky DOC.
Eight of the nine board members were appointed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, and the ninth was appointed by former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.
But Kentucky law supporting mandatory supervised release superseded the parole board’s recommendation, and Exantus was released.
The outrage was swift, all the way to the White House.
Green said she has not directly heard from the White House, but she encouraged officials to look into the case and find that the law was upheld.
“Those jurors deliberated for a long time, and this was an incredibly emotional and difficult process, and I think that they took their jobs very seriously,” Green said. “I do believe that the law was followed, that they did what they took an oath to do, which was uphold the law.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
