A former Ohio attorney is now facing up to 25 years in prison after trying to shoot his ex-wife at point-blank range inside a crowded restaurant.
As reported on Thursday’s AM Update, a Lucas County jury convicted 43-year-old Matthew Exton of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, and several accompanying firearms specifications.
The Attempted Murder
The attack unfolded in April 2025 during a soft opening at Sabira Italian restaurant in downtown Toledo. According to Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates, Exton was having a drink at the adjoining Souk restaurant when he spotted his ex-wife, Kayda Valone, dining next door with her parents.
Exton reportedly entered Sabira and ordered another drink to be delivered to their table before spitting toward the family as he walked out. He later returned with a loaded handgun, heading directly to where they were seated.
Wild surveillance video shows Exton standing over his ex-wife, extending the gun toward her face, and apparently trying to fire. When the weapon failed to discharge, Exton pulled it back and appeared to manipulate it before a waiter rushed in from behind and tackled him to the ground. Other employees and diners also joined in to restrain Exton until police arrived.
Watch a portion of the surveillance footage below:
Investigators later determined the gun’s safety was still engaged with one round reportedly in the chamber and seven more in the magazine.
The Trial and Conviction
Exton’s ex-wife broke down on the witness stand as she described the moment she thought her life was over. “He made a bee line right for our table, and he took a gun out of his freaking coat, and he pointed it right at me, and I saw his finger moving. I mean, I saw his eyes. I saw the frustration in his eyes when it didn’t go off,” Valone emotionally recalled.
“Right in that split second, they tackled him and they held him down, and he screamed. We’re all screaming,” she continued. “They kept yelling ‘gun.’ I yelled ‘gun’ over and over again because I knew I was dead… and I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt… I thought if they came, if other people came, they’d get hurt.”
Exton testified in his own defense and acknowledged that he thrust the weapon toward Valone’s face, but he reportedly insisted he never intended to pull the trigger. He instead claimed he merely wanted to frighten his ex-wife into moving faster on the sale of their former home in Michigan so he could collect his share of the proceeds.
The jury convicted Exton of attempting to murder Valone, along with felonious assault counts involving his ex and her mother. Jurors acquitted him of the remaining assault count involving Valone’s father, who testified that Exton never pointed the weapon toward him.
The trial itself turned out to be nearly as chaotic as the attack. According to local Toledo outlet The Blade, Exton repeatedly interrupted prosecutors during their closing arguments, at one point shouting the word “gun” and making gun-pointing gestures toward a prosecutor.
Judge Gary Cook reportedly sent the jury out of the courtroom several times to warn Exton about his behavior. The defendant promised to remain silent, only to interrupt again as another prosecutor discussed a voicemail Exton had left for Valone.
“I’m God. And the Anti-Christ. Hail Satan,” Exton allegedly proclaimed before using an anti-gay slur and adding: “Gun. Gun. Hail Satan. Gun. USA.”
Judge Cook finally ordered Exton removed from the courtroom, and he later watched the jury return its verdicts through a livestream from a holding cell in the courthouse basement.
The former attorney is scheduled to be sentenced September 21. His Ohio law license was suspended shortly after the attack last year.
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