'One of the most disturbing, violent acts I've seen': Man sentenced for machete attack
A man who attacked his neighbor with a machete as the neighbor was trying to remove his dog from the man's property was sentenced Wednesday to three to 4½ years in prison.
The attack happened in June 2022 outside Johnathan Sexton's home on Poole Road in Colerain Township.
At Sexton's sentencing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Colerain Township police Sgt. Mike Stockmeier called the incident "one of the most disturbing, violent acts I've ever seen against another person."
"This was a person who ambushed his neighbor with a machete," Stockmeier told Judge Christian Jenkins, "for trying to get his dog off (Sexton's) property."
According to prosecutors, the neighbor's dog got loose, and the man chased the dog to Sexton's property. The dog jumped into the back of Sexton's pickup, where the man tried to corral it.
Neighbor seriously injured
Sexton then struck the man from behind, prosecutors said, in the neck and arm.
The man received 68 stitches for his injuries. He suffered two strokes after the attack, prosecutors said, and now at 53 years old, uses a metal cane to walk. He can no longer drive and requires help to get dressed.
"His life has been altered forever," Assistant Prosecutor Nick Gramke said.
A jury last month convicted Sexton of felonious assault. He faced between two and eight years in prison.
'Significant and alarming history'
Jenkins described Sexton as having a "significant and alarming history." Prosecutors outlined that history as they sought a long prison sentence.
Sexton's adult criminal record dates back to 2005, when court documents say he was convicted of arson and robbery. In the robbery case, he stole a movie from a Colerain Township Walmart, and when a security employee tried to stop him, "he began to fight" and bit the employee on the forearm.
Documents from that case say Sexton previously had been admitted to several hospital psychiatric units.
He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Then in 2012, he was charged in Hamilton County with violating a protection order and illegally possessing a weapon because of his previous felony conviction. A jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Also in 2012, court documents say Sexton sent an anonymous email to the Transportation Security Administration, falsely reporting that his girlfriend, who worked at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, was plotting to run drugs through the airport. He pleaded guilty to a charge of making a fictitious statement to a federal agency.
The previous year, the documents say, Sexton placed an ad on Craigslist portraying his girlfriend as a prostitute.
Federal court documents say that a 2011 assessment found that Sexton had a history of violence toward others and that he was "preoccupied with revenge fantasies."
Sexton, according to the assessment, met the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder. He also showed signs of antisocial personality disorder, the documents say, with repeated arrests, deceitfulness and impulsivity, as well as lack of remorse.
Sexton speaks in court
His attorney, Elizabeth Selby, called the attack on the neighbor "a split-second decision" that happened only because the neighbor was on Sexton's property. She said there was emotion and fear involved.
She said Sexton has been seeing a psychologist. That psychologist, she said, has been impressed with Sexton's progress.
Sexton spoke in court and apologized to his former neighbor.
"I don't feel good about what happened that day," Sexton said. "I could have walked away from the situation and allowed it to de-escalate. My pride and beliefs got the better of me."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Colerain man sentenced for attacking neighbor with a machete
