Florida man accused of slashing Publix shopper
Ramsey Thomas Lyons, 47, has been charged with felony aggravated battery on a person age 65 or older after an alleged attack at the Publix Super Market on Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2026, according to Punta Gorda police.
A Florida man allegedly used a box cutter to slash a 70-year-old Publix customer, a little more than three months after a mental health court ended his probation in a separate case involving an unprovoked assault on a teenager.
The Punta Gorda Police Department said Lyons is accused of aggravated battery against a person 65 or older in connection with the Oct. 10 incident at the Publix supermarket on Tamiami Trail.
A sworn probable-cause affidavit said Lyons approached the shopper from behind shortly before 4 p.m. as the man was shopping inside the store.
The victim told investigators he felt someone strike him forcefully and turned around to see Lyons staring at him while holding a box-cutter blade. After touching his head and seeing blood on his hands, the man ran toward the front of the store, according to the affidavit.
Ramsey Thomas Lyons, 47, faces a felony charge of aggravated battery on a person 65 years or older following an attack at the Publix Super Market on Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2026. (Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office)
Punta Gorda officers arrived and took Lyons into custody at the front of the store. Police said he was standing there with his hands on his head. Officers also found a box cutter in the aisle where the attack allegedly occurred.
Emergency responders transported the victim to Fawcett Memorial Hospital for treatment of a serious four- to six-inch wound stretching from his left cheek to his neck, as well as a minor cut on his upper chest, police said.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Lyons told investigators he had a deep “dislike for the 1960’s era” and said he had gone to the store intending to kill someone. Police said he selected the victim because the shopper “looked like he was from the 1960’s” and Lyons felt like “acing him out.”
Publix is an employee-owned American supermarket chain based out of Lakeland, Florida, with over 1,400 locations. (iStock)
“I just pulled it out of my pocket and stuck it in his neck,” Lyons said, according to the affidavit.
Lyons also told police he had mental health issues and allegedly acknowledged spending two days planning the attack. He said he intentionally left the weapon in the aisle so responding officers would not use a Taser or shoot him, according to investigators.
The latest alleged attack prompted renewed criticism from the mother of a teenager Lyons was accused of assaulting previously.
On March 13, 2025, Lyons allegedly punched a 16-year-old in the side of the face at a Wawa gas station in Port Charlotte while the teenager was holding open a door. After his arrest, the 20th Judicial Circuit court system placed Lyons in a specialized Mental Health Court diversion program.
Shawna Gentry, the teenager’s mother, told News Media that she opposed the diversion program and urged the state prosecutor to pursue jail time, alcohol treatment classes and probation. She said she warned court officials that Lyons remained an active and volatile threat.
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Shawna Gentry is pictured with her son in an undated photograph. Gentry’s son was attacked on March 13, 2025, at a Wawa gas station in Port Charlotte, Florida, when he was 16. (Courtesy of Shawna Gentry)
Charlotte County court minutes show that Lyons’ probation ended July 6 without opposition from the State Attorney’s Office. The minutes included the handwritten message “Graduation! Congratulations!” next to a hand-drawn smiley face.
“The way the court handled it, the way the state attorney handled it was very odd to me,” Gentry said. “They told us they were sending him to a mental health facility, but he never went to a secured place. From what we saw, they just put him right back onto outpatient probation in our neighborhood and cut us completely out of the process.”
Gentry also disputed the suggestion that Lyons experienced a psychiatric break during the alleged attacks. In her view, he used references to mental health as a deliberate legal defense.
“When the sheriff came, it was almost like he knew exactly what to say,” Gentry said. “He immediately said, ‘Well, I’ve got mental health issues.’ He was so quick to use that word.”
She also said that Lyons appeared visibly intoxicated during the 2025 assault.
The court provided no tracking updates, safety alerts, or transitional monitoring to his prior victims, Gentry said.
Months later, Lyons walked into the Punta Gorda Publix.
Mental health courts
The National Treatment Court Resource Center counted 679 adult mental health courts nationwide at the end of 2024. A 2021 analysis of 30 evaluations linked mental health court participation to 74% lower odds of repeat offending.
Research on offenders with mental disorders suggests that recidivism depends more on criminal history than on diagnosis. A 2005 published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence found that the number of previous offenses was the strongest predictor of reoffending.
“My son saw it on TikTok , came running to me, and I could see the emotion in his face,” Gentry said. “Big old tears welled up in his eyes and he said, ‘Mom, the guy that hit me just stabbed an old man at Publix. You were right.'”
“The first thing out of my son’s mouth to the sheriff back in 2025 was that if that man had a gun or a knife, he wouldn’t be here today. Now an innocent senior citizen is in the hospital because the system refused to hold him accountable.”
The State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit did not respond to comment for request by publication date.
Lyons remains held without bond at the Charlotte County Jail. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 16 at the Charlotte County Justice Center.
Court records indicated that Lyons declined a public defender. It’s unclear whether he has hired a private attorney.