417: Grey’s Anatomy Inspired Murder: He Walked Inside, Then Took a Knife from the Kitchen | Logan Tipton

You just have to walk through this house to be a chopper and decide if that's. Well, somebody does something that vile, that vile, that evil. I hustle up to the top of the stairs and when I get to the top of the stairs he's standing there. And he's coming down with a knife. He got in my arms. I was holding him in my arms and he took a final breath and closed his eyes and he was gone. Hey true friend besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialist Suite. With me Annie Elise and today we are going to deep dive another true crime case together. And I have to say this one is so wild because it kind of has a grays anatomy spin to it like inspo if that makes sense. And I know grays anatomy people are like die hards they live for grays. I personally, I don't even know what number season I got through, I got through, I don't want to give any spoilers. I got through where there was a big character husband's death. I'll leave it there. And then I just couldn't pick back up because all my favorite characters were gone and I felt like it was getting wild but maybe I do need to pick back up. But anyway it's like a cult show for a lot of people. And in today's case it kind of inspired a murder unfortunately which have to say Meredith Gray probably would not be too pleased with that. Just going to throw that out there. But let me break it down for you. Now before we jump in I did want to share some exciting news with you guys because it's that time of year. I've already seen the messages start trickling in but our annual subscription sale is officially here. So if you've been on the fence or you've been thinking about joining our true crime club, whether that's on Patreon because you're a video watcher, you want the episodes ad free, you want more access, you want behind the scenes, you want vlogs, giveaways are 24/7 group chat, all the things. Now is the time. 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For the Tipton family, the night of Monday, December 7th, 2015, truly started feeling like something out of a holiday memory. And the whole month of December feels, you know, Christmasy and there's certain times in your house when you get the decorations up that it feels extra cozy and like you're already in the throes of the holiday. So while it was still early in December, the 7th, it definitely had that kind of energy, the kind of day where everything just feels good. Now for six-year-old Logan Tipton, that's exactly what this day was. It was just all about the magic of Christmas. His mom Heather had the day off, which almost never happened, especially since she was working at Amazon and working, you know, during peak season, where hours were insane. So they made the most of it. They went out and they got a Christmas tree. They picked up new lights. They made gingerbread houses, even homemade candy. Just a full day of the two of them being together, a close family doing normal things, celebrating Christmas, decorating for Christmas. The kind of day that you don't think twice about when you're in the moment. But later, you realize how much it truly did matter. Then that night Heather decided to pick up an overtime shift. She wasn't scheduled, but it was time in a half. And with Christmas coming up, they needed the money. She couldn't turn it down. So before she left, Logan sat on the bathroom toilet, just watching his mom get ready, doing her makeup, fixing her hair. They took a little nap together, just cuddling up until it was time for her to go. Then she kissed her husband, Dean goodbye. She hugged all five of her kids, fully expecting to see them in the morning. However, she wouldn't. And like I said, that entire day had been filled with moments that they would never forget. They just didn't know that it would be the last time that they would get to have them together as a family of seven. That night, all five of the tipped-in kids were tucked into bed, asleep in the same room. The house was quiet, dark, except for the glow of the Christmas lights outside. And then something changed, something woke up 11-year-old Coral. Now, at first, she just started stirring, kind of tossing and turning, half asleep, rubbing her eyes, not really quite sure what was waking her up. But when she looked across the room toward where the noise was coming from, she couldn't tell if she was awake, or if she was still dreaming, because standing right there in front of her was a man. A man that she did not recognize, not her dad, not a family friend, not one of her siblings, not anyone that she had ever seen before. And this man, he was carrying two knives in his hands. One was large, sharp, later it would be identified as a butcher knife. And the other was smaller, a dollar kind of common kitchen butter knife. And as she saw him and as everything started to get into focus, she could see that he was standing over her little brother Logan. And this is the part that really stands out to me, because Coral knew instantly that something had already happened to her little brother. Whether he was moving or not, she just knew her intuition kicked in. But even at just 11-years-old, she didn't freeze, she didn't stop, she didn't pause, she reacted. Her instincts just kicking in, and honestly probably big sister instincts more than anything else. So she started yelling at this man, telling him, you know, get away from Logan, get out of here, what the hell are you doing? And when that wasn't working, she got out of her bed and physically went after this man, kicking him, grabbing at his hands, trying to get the knives away from him. Just incredibly brave for an 11-year-old. She didn't care if she got hurt. She just knew that she had to help her little brother. But then everything shifted. It's like this man suddenly realized that she was there. And just as quickly, he turned on her. He first came at her with the butternife in full force, but somehow she actually managed to get it out of his hands. Again, this is an 11-year-old, just so brave and courageous. But the truth was, Coral was still a child. And in moments like this, when someone abruptly shifts their behavior, it can be confusing. It can be chaotic. Because just as quickly as he became super aggressive, he changed again. His tone softened. He started speaking calmly, asking her almost gently to give the knife back. And she did. And honestly, that's very hard to hear, but it does make sense. She was scared. She was trying to survive. She didn't know what to do, and she didn't know what this man was going to do next, to her or to her siblings. However, now, his attention it was fully on her. It was like Logan didn't even exist to him anymore. Like Coral had now become the new focus. So he took the butternife and then started running it along the edges of her body, slowly. Almost like he was deciding whether or not he wanted to use it. And he did end up using it. Just a small cut on her nose, which given that he also had a butternife, it's honestly terrifying to think about how much worse that could have been. But he did cut her on the nose. Now, around this point, another one of the kids woke up. Lily, Coral's younger sister. The exact age isn't listed. It's just that she was younger than 11. Now Lily managed to quietly get out of bed. And she ran out of the room without this man noticing. I mean, he was too focused on Coral at this point. So she went straight downstairs to their dad at Dean, which I can't even imagine that moment being woken up by your child who's panicked telling you there's a man in their bedroom. I mean, can you imagine the amount of fear racing through your mind? And luckily, Dean didn't just brush it off. He didn't assume that it was a nightmare or something like that. He moved. He acted. He ran up the stairs and about halfway up, he heard a voice, a man's voice. Deep, angry, yelling at the kids, clean your fucking rooms, which think about that too as a parent. You don't know who this intruder is. You don't know who this man is. He's yelling at your kids, clean their rooms. Like, is he in his right state of mind? What is going on? Just imagine the confusion. So at that point, Dean did not hesitate. He went straight into dad mode. He stormed into the room. He didn't care that there was a stranger inside. He didn't care that the man had two knives, a butcher one at that. And he didn't care that something about him felt off. And then suddenly there was this violent fight. happening right in the middle of the kid's bedroom. Dean is trying to get control of the knives, trying to get on top of this guy doing whatever he can do to protect his kids, and at the same time he's yelling, asking him who he is. Like, who are you? Why are you in my house? And the man's response? This is my fucking house. Now luckily, while all of this was happening, Coral was able to grab a phone nearby and call 911. Now the response to this call was fast. Like, at the house within 90 seconds fast, that kind of call. So once the officers got there, they were able to get control of this man and eventually cuff him. But this wasn't some clean, resolved ending. Because inside, Dean and the officers started doing a head count, just trying to make sure that every child in that room was accounted for and was physically okay. Because obviously mentally, that's not something that you would recover from overnight. As I mentioned, Coral had a small cut on her nose. It was shallow and she was okay. One source did mention that two of the girls had life-threatening injuries, but I can't confirm that because the court documents only specifically mentioned Coral. But six-year-old little Logan, he was not okay. He wasn't responding. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. Dean would later talk about that night and he said that he remembers the exact moment that Logan lost consciousness. Or possibly the exact moment that he passed. And it wasn't, it wasn't 10 seconds later. He just, in the body cam footage from one of the responding officers, you can hear them say it. They knew. They used the phrase "somebody killed him" while talking to each other. But even then, they were still rushing, calling for all hands on deck, trying to get inside to help revive him. And it's like kind of like they were trying to fight against what they already knew had happened in that moment. Now this part is really hard because it was clear that this man had already done way too much damage to little Logan before Coral even woke up. And that's not on her at all, obviously. That's just the reality of how severe Logan's injuries were. The officers tried CPR, but it wasn't enough. Logan had been stabbed to death in his sleep. A just six-years-old. And by the time that helped arrive, he unfortunately was already gone. The court documents don't say exactly how many times he was stabbed, but another source described it as "multiple stab wounds." It was later determined, too, that one of those wounds was to his head. And Logan was just six. He had just started kindergarten that fall at Simmons Elementary School, and he finally was becoming his own little person, developing his personality, becoming himself. I mean, such a cute and pivotal age for kids. He was also extremely well-liked, not just by his classmates, but by his teachers and staff, too. He was the kind of kid who was always smiling, always joking around just so easy to love. Logan loved football, too. He played on a local youth team, but that wasn't enough for him. If there was a game on TV, he also was watching that. If the local high school team was playing, he wanted to be there, he wanted to watch in person. And everywhere he went, he just made friends. On his team, at school, even just out in everyday life, his family said that he would also tell people he loved them, even people he had just met. That's just who he was. He would say, "Love you, bye," to people he'd just met for the first time. And his death, it didn't just impact his family. It impacted the entire community of Versailles, Kentucky. It was the kind of loss that people just could not even fully process. You don't supposed to question God, but you did. Because you want to why they take somebody that, yes, it was just a neighborhood to a child in worker care. There were so many questions, one, who was responsible for invading their home that night, two, who would do something like this, and more importantly, three, why this family, why Logan? And here's what made it even more unsettling if you can believe it. No one in that house recognized this man. Not the kids, not Dean, not Heather. So this wasn't someone who snapped after an argument or someone who had been targeting them for some reason. This was a complete stranger, who walked into their home in the middle of the night and somehow knew exactly where to go. And what the police would uncover about who he was? It only made it more difficult to understand. One part that really sticks with me is that while the investigators were trying to piece together what had happened, the community was already grieving. Logan's youth league football coaches and teammates had organized a service in his honor. And they called it Logan's last game. His dad signed him up. He didn't want to play. And then he put his helmet in his equipment on and he couldn't get it off of it. My heart just goes out to the family and to all the children and it's devastating. At the service, they carried his casket across the football field, surrounded by so many people who knew and loved him. His visitation and funeral were just as overwhelming. Hundreds of people showed up. The lines stretched out the door of the funeral home. We're talking friends, family, acquaintances, even people who had never met Logan. They just felt compelled to come and pay their respects. During his visitation, the local high school orchestra also performed a concert at a nearby church to help raise money for the family. The entire community really did come together to support them. And honestly, it just drives home how normal this family was. This was a happy family. They didn't have any enemies. They weren't involved in anything suspicious. They were just getting ready for Christmas, living their everyday lives. And in one night, everything changed. So naturally, questions started building. Who did this? Why this house? How did this house be? How did he even get inside? Because here's the thing. Like I said, this wasn't someone that the family knew. The kids didn't recognize him. Dean didn't recognize him. Heather didn't recognize him. Nobody in this family knew who this man was or why he chose them. But after taking him into custody, the investigators were able to learn who he was. They identified him as 34-year-old Ronald Exantist. Now to be honest, I wasn't sure exactly how they found out that his name was Ronald. Maybe he had his wallet on him or his ID. But the way that the investigators had described Ronald from the very beginning, something about his behavior had stood out. It was almost as if he was speaking in riddles. Like he was incoherent. During the ride to the police station, they also said that his behavior was just off. He was mumbling, reading things out loud, every street sign, every billboard, every name that he could see, the entire drive from the family's house to the station was filled with this too. It was just very bizarre. And it didn't stop once they arrived at the station. Inside the interview room, he just kept going. Reading signs on the walls, then if there was nothing left to read, he would start reading the officer's name tags and their job titles, just spouting out all of this information. And emotionally, he was all over the place. At times, he would start crying, seeming genuinely upset, like there was some sort of level of awareness, but then just as quickly that would switch over to anger, intense anger. And before anyone could even process it, it would just shift again, over now into confusion, where he didn't know where he was, why he was there, or who he was talking to. And the cycle just kept repeating itself. So it didn't take long for the investigators to realize they weren't getting anywhere with him. It was clear that he was not in any state to explain what had happened that night, whether he didn't want to explain or couldn't explain the fact of the matter was, it just wasn't happening. And this part really stood out to me because it ends up mattering later. But during Ronald's intake, officers noted that he did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, which given everything that you just heard, that might feel surprising. But at the same time, they also noted that he did appear to be suffering from some kind of mental illness. And if you follow true crime at all, then you already know that can turn into a very long complicated road when it comes to justice. Either way, Ronald was booked into jail, but he was still behaving very erratically, and investigators just couldn't get anything useful out of him. And at that point, they barely knew anything, just his name. They didn't know why he was in the tipton home, why he targeted them, why Logan, nothing. And anytime that they tried to talk to him, it actually seemed to only make things worse. At one point, he even started accusing the officers of forcing his car off the road and arresting him. Which obviously we know that that didn't happen at all. He wasn't in his vehicle when they arrested him, but he said it with complete conviction. Like he truly believed it. Eventually, investigators had to start piecing things together from the people in his life. Because any information that they could possibly get, it wasn't coming from Ronald. He was not sharing it. At the time, Ronald was living in Indianapolis, Indiana. He got three hours away from the Tiptons in Kentucky. So again, this wasn't someone even from the same town or even the same state. As far as anyone knew, he didn't have any sort of connections to their town. He also had no prior arrests or convictions. And everyone who knew him described him as completely normal, up until about a week before the break-in. Back in Indianapolis, Ronald worked as a dialysis nurse. His coworkers liked him. His patients liked him. He was dependable, always on time, and he was known for going above and beyond at work. He was also described as very focused. But he wasn't overly social. He would show up, he would do his job, and then he would go home. He didn't talk much about his personal life either. Not in a secretive way, just kind of that's who he was. He didn't share much. He wasn't an overshare. He just kept to himself. Which is why on Thursday, December 3rd, 2015, it stood out to people. An incredible amount, because that was the first time that anyone noticed a change. According to one of his coworkers, Ronald came into work that day with a completely different energy, noticeably different. He had a pep in his step. He seemed unusually happy, almost elevated. He went into his coworker's office and just started talking. A lot too, talking, you know, ad nauseam, about how happy he was, how content he felt in all of his relationships. And again, this was not normal for him. Most of his coworkers didn't even know details about his personal life. So this shift in him, it was very obvious. His coworker even gave a very specific comparison. She described Ronald by saying, he was emotionally like Tom Cruise. Like when Tom Cruise was with Oprah and he was jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, talking about his love for Katie Holmes. Which if you remember that moment, he, not that it was erratic, but it was like a burst of energy and happiness that fell out of character because Tom Cruise has always been very stoic on red carpets, not, I mean, back then at least, not super engaging, not super conversational. And there he was like jumping up and down, who like what is going on? What are you trying to sell? Like, it feels like a sales pitch and so over the top. So his coworker is paralleling the two, being like, he came in over me happy, over sharing, talking all about his life. And this was so unlike him. And it wasn't just at work. Ronald and his personal life were also noticing changes as well. Ronald had a girlfriend named Loris Burgess and they lived together. So she was seeing all of this up close in real time. Lauren was also very close with her parents. Ronald was as well. So they were also picking up on things. Now at first, Lauren said that the red flags and the behavior switch wasn't necessarily alarming, it was just off, out of character. She started noticing that when she would wake up in the middle of the night, Ronald would already be awake, almost like he hadn't slept at all. And this wasn't just once or twice, it was every night. He just wasn't sleeping. And while he was awake, his behavior was apparently erratic. There were multiple nights where Lauren's mom would get a phone call between 1 and 3 AM. And of course, she would answer assuming something might be wrong with her daughter, but when she picked up the phone, it was Ronald. And Ronald sounded completely calm like it was a daytime normal conversation. Nothing was wrong. She was calling to chat. One night, he even called and asked for permission to propose to Lauren, asking for her parents blessing. Which, okay, that's not an unusual request and it's great that he's having conversations with her parents and that they get along so well, but calling it 3 AM to have those conversations even the proposal conversation, that's where it becomes a bit strange. And that's really what stood out the most. It wasn't what he was saying. It was just that he seemed to have lost all awareness of social norms. Like he genuinely didn't understand that calling someone in the middle of the night wasn't appropriate. And as the week went on, Ronald still wasn't sleeping. Lauren kept checking in, asking if something was wrong, work, personal life, anything. But he kept insisting that everything was fine. And then more changes started happening. And this is where things stop just being strange or a little odd, but start becoming something else entirely. Because over the course of just a few days, Ronald goes from being completely normal to not sleeping, not eating, crying uncontrollably, and talking in ways that just don't make sense. It was the beginning of a bizarre series of events involving a baptism, a marriage proposal, a road trip, and something tied to the TV show Grey's Anatomy. And somehow all of that just kind of circulated and orbited and it led him to one place. Logan's bedroom. And it also led to a question that still does not sit right. How was he later found not guilty and allowed to walk free? Just a couple of days before the murder, things got even more concerning. On that Friday, Lauren and Ronald had got take out food together. But when the food came, Ronald wouldn't eat. He said that he wasn't hungry. And then out of nowhere, he started crying. Now remember, Lauren said that in the two years that they had been together, she had never seen him cry before. So this absolutely wasn't normal. And understandably, she was worried because when someone who never cries suddenly breaks down like that, uncontrollably, it usually means that something is very, very wrong. But every time that she asked him what was going on, he just kept saying that everything was fine. Then comes Sunday, the day before the murder. Lauren's dad was being baptized at church and it was a very big day for the family and they wanted Ronald there, of course, so the two of them drove to the church. And just like a couple of nights earlier, Ronald started crying again. It was uncontrollable, he was inconsolable, but he still wouldn't explain why. Now at this point, Lauren seemed to be getting frustrated by all of this. They were about to go inside, people would notice, it would be disruptive to the service. So she told him, you know, you need to pull it together, like get your shit together. We're about to walk inside. This is a big day for my dad. So he pulled himself together and they went inside, but it didn't last. Not long after he started crying again, loud, noticeably sobbing. The kind of crying that certainly draws attention in a quiet place like a church. And then suddenly, he stood up, he stormed to the back of the church, and he started demanding to speak to the pastor and Lauren's mom, Lisa. Now, it's not totally clear if they spoke with him in that moment or not, but eventually the service just continued and Lauren's dad was baptized. And afterward, things escalated again. While people were still inside the building, Ronald started yelling, screaming, saying that the pastors were detectives that everyone in the congregation were undercover cops. He was rambling, shouting, some of it you could understand, some of it you couldn't, but none of it made any sense. And one of the pastors later described it like this. It was a very odd conversation. The best way that I can describe it is that the words were just out of order. He was using words, but they made no sense. The order was just out of order. And then, as if that wasn't already enough, in the middle of hysterically sobbing, Ronald grabbed Lauren's hand, got down on one knee, and he asked her to marry him. No ring, no plan, just a proposal in the middle of all of this chaos. Which I can't even imagine how mortified Lauren must have been in that moment. And you can kind of see that in how she reacted. She immediately pulled him up and dragged him out of the church, like, get up, get outside with me, just trying to get him out of there without drawing any more attention. The court documents also go into detail about how the rest of that day played out. Lauren was trying to calm him down, but also just going along with whatever he was doing. For example, at one point he asked her if she would go engagement ring shopping with him. And she did. Later, they were out to dinner with her parents, and he was crying again, making a scene once again. And then after that, he said that he wanted to sit down at the computer and start planning the wedding. Again, Lauren just went along with it. Now honestly, I would love to know what was going through Lauren's head that day, because she knew that he wasn't sleeping. She knew that he wasn't eating. Maybe she thought that if she just went along with everything, he would settle down and she could calm him down. I'm not sure. Maybe that things would go back to normal, which, to be clear, I'm not saying that she should have done anything differently or that anything that she had done could have prevented what happened next, I just wonder what was going through her mind. Because think about it. If someone you've known for years, someone who has never shown any signs of violence starts acting strangely, your first thought isn't going to be like, you know, I need to call the police. He's about to go kill someone. It's probably going to be trying to calm them down, trying to rationalize with them, see what you need to do to get them help. Jumping from one thing to the other, that's just not how people think. Ronald D. didn't settle down. Instead, out of nowhere, he got up off the couch, and he told Lauren he didn't want to be with her, that he didn't want to marry her. And this time he wasn't emotional. He was totally calm, just very even keeled. Lauren said that the strangest part wasn't the sudden breakup after the equally strange sudden proposal at the dad's baptism, but it was that he wouldn't even look at her at all. She just described him as blank. "He just kept saying I don't want to be with you, I don't want to marry you. I'm not going to hurt you, I have to go." And then, he left. No bags packed, no goodbye, he just grabbed his keys and his wallet and he walked out. And this was around 8.30pm, the very same night that he would then break in to the tipped-in home. Fast forward to the next morning. Investigators showed up at Lauren's door, not to tell her what had happened, and what Ronald had done, but to do a welfare check. Because Ronald had told them that he killed her as well, and that is how Lauren ended up finding out about Logan. So that was the lead-up, the behavior in the days before, and it's clearly not normal, but it still also doesn't explain how or why Ronald ended up in a child's bedroom three hours away in the middle of the night. While after Ronald was arrested, investigators were eventually able to get him psychiatric health. He was put on medication and it seemed to stabilize him enough to talk. And once he could communicate, he explained how he got three hours away and in Logan's bedroom. After leaving the house, he decided that he was going to drive to Florida to be with his mom. It wasn't planned, so there were no hotels, no stops, he just got in the car and he started driving. He went from Indianapolis to Louisville, Kentucky, about a two hour drive. Now while he was there, he stopped at Taco Bell so that he could get a drink, and the receipt shows that this was about 12.48 am. There's still some unaccounted time there, and I couldn't find anything specific about what he was doing during that gap. But after that, he got back out on the road and he ended up in the town where the Tipton's lived, which Louisville to their town is about an hour drive. Ronald said that the first place that he stopped was a church, because he thought that there was a wedding that he was supposed to attend. Which clearly, I mean, it seems like weddings were very heavily on his mind that night, right? The proposal breaking off, planning the wedding, all of these things, which maybe that's going into the delirium of not sleeping and time blending together, who knows. But when he got there, which was probably around two or three a.m., there was obviously no wedding. So he just kept moving. From there, he started walking down the street. And as he was walking, he was looking at houses, kind of peering into them, seeing what was going on. He even said that at some point, he went up to the porches of these houses, and he sat on the swings, which can you imagine how creepy that is? Someone who parks at a church thinking there's a wedding, then just starts going off on foot, walking up and down neighborhoods in the middle of the night, this person who is clearly unstable, going up to the porches, swinging on their front porch, walking back down, taking a few more steps to the next house. I don't know. It's eerie to think about. So then at one point during his walk, he noticed a garage where the like roof overhang piece of it was low enough that he could pull himself up on it. So he literally stopped and started doing pull-ups on this roof overhang, like he was doing a little workout. Then he stopped and he kept walking. And then about five or six houses down from the church, he saw something. Just a road sign, nothing special, just a sign with the street name. But to him, it meant something, as the road was called Grey's Road. So yes, you heard that right. Ronald claimed that when he saw the street sign, he immediately thought of the TV show Grey's Anatomy, as in that medical drama that I talked about at the beginning of this episode. Apparently, it was a show that he used to watch a lot of when he was in nursing school. So seeing that sign made him think of the show. But for him, that connection wasn't random, and apparently that's when everything changed. He suddenly realized in that moment that he had a purpose that night. Because now he wasn't just wandering anymore. He was on a mission. He believed that this sign, this literal sign, was also a sign from the universe, a sign that he needed to go and perform surgery. Like everything else that night, there wasn't a clear plan once Ronald had this realization about needing to perform surgery. It was almost like he was waiting for something to lead him to where he needed to go. And that's unfortunately when he ended up outside of 311 Douglas Avenue, Logan's family's home. According to Ronald, what drew him to that specific house were the Christmas lights. The house was lit up while the rest of the street was dark. So he walked up to the front door, it was unlocked, and he walked right in. But in his mind, he needed tools. He needed tools to perform this surgery. So he went straight to the kitchen. He started opening drawers, grabbing whatever he could, knives, spoons, forks, even a spatula. And then he started moving through the house. Looking for the person he believed he needed to perform surgery on. And eventually, he made his way upstairs to the kids room. And to be honest, there's no clear answers as to why he chose Logan. There is nothing in Ronald's interviews that explains that. It may have been random. It may have been proximity. I mean, it's not clear. All we know is that the other utensils were found on the ground near Logan's bed, but the knives that he had pulled out. That's what he used. And that's how Ronald ended up in Logan's bedroom that night. Completely random, completely by chance. And the odds of something like this happening, it truly feels impossible. Yet it did happen. A six-year-old boy lost his life. His siblings were traumatized and a family was completely shattered. And obviously Logan deserved justice. But the path to that? It was not straightforward. After Ronald was arrested, his behavior didn't improve. In fact, it escalated. From December 7, 2015, when he was booked, to February 23, 2016, when he was transferred to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center, there were about 20 separate incident reports filed. And this wasn't one consistent behavior, it varied. One day, it was non-stop banging on his cell door. The next, it was urinating or defecating on himself. It was just constant. Once he was transferred in February, multiple mental health professionals evaluated him. And he was prescribed, select, suffering, anxiety, and depression, and respare at all in anti-psychotic medication. But even with the medication, his behavior still aligned with someone in a severe mental health crisis. Doctors and social workers also noted that he believed that he was receiving messages from the TV, that he was experiencing both auditory and visual hallucinations. At one point, he even told a social worker that he couldn't understand what she was saying because she was speaking backwards and imperables, which she wasn't. So the psychiatric team conducted their own evaluation. They reviewed the body cam footage, the booking videos, the interrogation footage, and they interviewed Lauren and her family. So investigators ultimately came to the conclusion that Ronald had been showing signs of psychosis for well over a week before Logan's murder. And even after, they also determined that he was not faking his symptoms or his behaviors, which that's why his defense team immediately pursued a not guilty by reason of insanity plea. Ronald was facing multiple charges at this point, burglary in the first degree, the murder of Logan, assault in the second degree against Logan's sister Coral, assault in the second degree against another sibling Dakota, and assault in the fourth degree against the father Dean. When the trial began in 2018, it looked very different from most cases. His defense wasn't arguing that he didn't do it. In fact, they fully admitted that he stabbed Logan to death. Ronald himself had also admitted that during police interviews. Now because in a typical murder case, there are two things that the prosecution has to prove. The act and the mindset behind it. And Ronald's defense was focused entirely on that second part. They argued that there was no culpable mindset because of his mental illness. The prosecution on the other hand, they argued something very different. They claimed Ronald wasn't suffering from mental illness at all. That his behavior, it was all the result of synthetic drugs that can cause psychosis. So the lack of sleep, the refusal to eat, the outbursts, they argued that all of it could be explained by drug use. They even brought in a psychiatrist and a toxicologist to testify that his behavior was consistent with things like using bath salts, synthetic marijuana, or other disassociative drugs. But Ronald's defense team pointed to a blood test that was taken after his arrest. And that test showed that the only thing in his system was a blood test. was a non-active ingredient of marijuana. So the question became, did Ronald knowingly take something that altered his mental state? Or did he experience a true mental break? In the end, the jury reached a verdict and it was not what Logan's family had been hoping for. They found Ronald not guilty of murder and burglary by reason of insanity. But they did find him guilty of the assaults against Logan's siblings and Dean. And that's where a lot of people struggled with this because, of course, those assaults matter, yes, absolutely. Of course, they deserve justice. But six-year-old Logan lost his life. And the idea that there was justice for the assaults, but not his murder? That's very difficult to sit with. One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life was come home and tell my kids that he was innocent from the murder. And they're young. They're saying, well, how's the innocent from the murder? We watched him do it. A lot of people had mixed reactions. Confusion, frustration, because how do you say that someone was legally insane when they committed the murder, but not insane when they assaulted the others in that same incident? It feels contradictory, doesn't it? I'll never be able to wrap my arms around him again. And here he was saying, "Daddy, I miss you. I'm glad you're home. I'm never going to get that again." But this man has hope. I can't explain that to my children. I'll never be able to, but I get to deal with the aftermath for the rest of their lives, for the rest of my life. Both of Logan's parents, Heather and Dean, spoke at Ronald sentencing. And it was heartbreaking to hear the raw emotions in their voice. When you murdered my son, you slaughtered my entire family. Think about my son. Think about my children and the lives that you've ruined. And remember that I will forgive you for me, not for you. He gets to go on and live his life. He gets to go one day. He may get to go and hug his children again. I won't. When I go to see my son, I have to go to a graveyard. Ronald was sentenced to 20 years. 20 years after admitting to stabbing a child to death. 20 years for breaking into a family's home and permanently altering their lives. They said Ron had a middle break. We've had multiple, multiple mental breaks over the last 10 years. It never once gave me the right to go out and commit a crime. And even that sentencing wasn't the end. Even though in my opinion, that's kind of like a slap on the wrist for what happened. And maybe that's mixed because of the mental health factor in it. But that's not what ended up happening. He didn't serve 20 years. Because recently, this case has been back in the headlines for another reason. In October of 2025, after serving only nine years, Ronald was released. Thank you both for being with us and let us just start with how sorry we are for your loss and everything that you've been through over the past 10 years. How does it feel today to know that exantis is back on the streets? It's fickening and furious. I would. There's really, there's really no words to explain it. Me and my siblings. We are fearful of what's to come next. Coro, tell me a little more about that. I mean, you were attacked in your home. This man is now back on the streets. You fear for your safety? I do. And Ronald, exantis was not charged for murder. And that's the part that is really hard for us to grasp anyway. It's like my testimony did not matter at all. And that's truly just how I feel. I've seen the man in my room killing my brother. And now he is just free. It just doesn't make sense to me. This whole crime, this whole case is truly insane. It's sick. And it's just there's no words. It broke my heart. My heart was already broken, but it really broke me when they basically told us nobody killed Logan. Nobody was going to be held responsible. All I could really do at that point was beg them to give him the max that they could give him for the assault charges. There was nothing else we could do. And I still feel helpless. And and now he's out like walking the streets among us. Like what do we do? Has this day haunted you that he would one day be out there once again? Yes, it has definitely haunted all of us. My husband and I, we had to take a step back from everything to be able to actually grieve the whole trial process and everything just it was just all a whirlwind and then that happened and Dean and I we just had to take a step back and heal. And we're not fully healed, but I'm stronger now and he's stronger now. And I feel like maybe we can do something now. Maybe it took him getting out after 10 years for people to see what's going on that this has happened. And we need to do something about it. Something has to be done. The justice system is all about the criminals and it's never about the victim. My grandson was just six years old. He never, he never had, he never got to grow up, never had, they didn't give him justice. The reason given was good behavior, along with completing work hours and self-improvement programs. And as part of his release, he was ordered to complete six months of reentry supervision in Florida. What you've kind of learned about the the justice system through this whole process. You mean the injustice system? That's what it is. There was no justice. There was no accountability for who killed my son. Pretty much we were told nobody did it. And it's a disgrace to Kentucky. And it's a disgrace to our nation knowing that a man can go in and stab a six year old sleeping boy to death and then plea insanity and walk free. We know he didn't walk free because he got the time for the assault, but he walked free from the murder of my phone. Which understandably though, there has been a lot of backlash with this decision, not just from Logan's family and supporters, but even from the authorities who publicly expressed their frustration with this decision. I get there's, he was released from what, my understanding on good behavior. Well, I think the, the overwhelming evil behavior that he exhibited in killing this child and trying to kill others in the same home outweighs any good behavior he could do in the next 400 years. That's one of your sentence and he didn't even serve half of that just to be released. It just reignited a nightmare for them. I'm sure. And the outrage that we've seen from this, nationally, I think stems from a few things. It stems from the the seemingly loss of common sense in a judicial system in some places to turn somebody like this back out into the public. It's also a a willful disregard of the will and the desire of we the people. I know I can speak for we the people here in Florida do not want this type of person out on our streets around our children. And I think I can speak for the we the people in Kentucky when I say they don't want that either. Then just 10 days after all of this happened. There was another update. Ronald was re-arrested. After being released, he had moved to Florida where his mom lived. It's unclear if he was living with her, but wherever he was staying, it was reportedly right next to an elementary school. But that's not what led to his arrest. He was arrested for failing to register as a convicted felon, which is required under Florida law. And for Logan's family, that brought a mix of emotions. How did you find out about exantuses arrest down here? Actually watching Fox News. We had just turned it on and it come across breaking news with Will Cain. And I thought we found out that he was arrested. What's going through your mind at that point when you saw that? Shot this belief. Happy new sadness. Everything, all the emotions all wrapped up in one. It's been what a couple weeks now that he's been out on parole. Yeah. Like a week, week and a half. What has that time been like for you? It's been pretty nerve-wracking. It opened up a lot of scars and wounds that I thought I had healed from, that I have found that obviously I haven't. And it's pretty much the same thing with all my family. You know, just being on edge, anxiety, breakdowns. You know, I had to take off with more just because my mental state wasn't in a very good spot. I don't want my kids to have to walk around the rest of their life wondering if this man was going to come back and do the job, finish the job that he told him that he was going to do. Dean described it as a sense of relief. Knowing that Ronald was back in custody, and made their fan feel safer, especially the kids. But at the same time, there was also frustration. They hadn't been notified. They found out the same way everyone else did by seeing it in the news. And that didn't sit right with them. After that arrest, Ronald was extradited back to Kentucky. And the most recent update indicates that he could be released again within the next year. So whatever sense of safety the family has right now, it may not last. I get up every morning and get on the Marion County Sheriff's Department website, pull up the inmate list, type his name in just to check and make sure he's there. It's just honestly, it feels like it's just been a mess from the start. It wasn't handled correctly by anybody. This guy crossed state lines and committed a murder. I think that makes it federal. If I cross paths with him, you're going to make me a criminal. I will gladly spend the rest of my life behind bars to know that my family that she is safe or my children are safe because he said, I'm going to kill your entire family. Now, this case is incredibly difficult, but it's also important because situations like this highlight the gaps in the justice system, right? Also, the real impact that those gaps have on the families who are experiencing these situations. How do you make sense of it? What is the just punishment for that kind of crime and someone with that kind of mental health issue? This past December marked 10 years since Logan's death. It's been 10 years and yet, you know, here you are reliving some of these things. How hard is that? It's like reliving December 7th all over again, that whole time period, and maybe a little worse because, you know, during that time, we had adrenaline going, you know, this time it was just all a shock and kind of called us by surprise. He would be 16 years old right now in high school, probably still playing football, starting to think about his future, a future that he never got to have. I often wonder, you know, how big would Logan be? What would his temperament, his personality be like? Would he still be the same general loving little boy? He was a son, a grandson, a brother, a six-year-old full of life and love who had his entire journey of life ahead of him. So now, his parents and family are advocating for something that they hope becomes law, Logan's law. A law that would require anyone found it not guilty by reason of insanity to remain in a secure mental institution for the rest of their lives. Because in their eyes and in the eyes of many others, they think Ronald got away with it. He took Logan's life and he still walked free. Which that really is the big question here, right? Even if you don't think that someone who is suffering from mental health challenges should get life in prison, like a typical run-of-the-mill criminal like Brian Coburger, and that there's other things that play. There should certainly be some sort of psychiatric care or facility and ongoing treatment. How was he just released and able to go back into the world after nine years with no medication, no check-ins, no support? How do you know that somebody's been reformed after that? I know he did the classes and all that, but what? He killed this, he stabbed this little six-year-old to death, and now he's walking free after nine years? How does that make sense? And Logan's family truly believes that he got away with it. I want to hear your thoughts on that, too. Do you think that justice was served or do you think that something in the system needs to change? I also think that this is a great lesson, not that we need to overreact, but that we should err on the side of caution. And if you notice someone close to you is having what appears to be a mental health crisis or an episode, they're not eating, they're not sleeping, their behavior is odd. Maybe rather than trying to just wait it out or rationalize with them, maybe you do call in for help. And I don't want people to obviously go to extremes and baker act somebody, but I think that we can all collectively learn from this, too, different signs to look for warning signs, red flags to where we could hopefully intervene if we're ever in a situation like that and get somebody help before escalates to something like this? I don't know, though. What are your thoughts on this? I know that it's tough. It's always tough, and it involves children. It's always tough, regardless, but it always is very tough with children. And for his siblings to have to witness that and the fear and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy truly. But let me know what you guys think about the sentence about justice being served and what's really at play here. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode. As a reminder, I have another brand new episode coming out tomorrow, but on my other true crime podcast feed tend to life. So make sure you're following that feed if you're not already because it will not be dropping on this one. And seriously, it'll be dropping on that one. And we have between the two feeds, we have new episodes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday. So lots of content for you to binge. So I will be back with you tomorrow with an all new case over on tend to life. And then I will be back with you on this feed on Thursday with headline highlights where I'm going to break down everything happening this week and true crime. All right, guys, until the next one, kiss your babies, squeeze them, hold them tight, lock your doors, and just watch out for yourselves. All right, bye.