‘I am safe, I am loved’: Riverview boy stabbed, set on fire adopted by detective who responded to do

it was a horrible crime ronnie o'neill murdered his girlfriend and daughter and tried to kill his son but on the night of that tragedy a guardian angel appeared in the form of a lifeguard and gave that boy a second chance at life this night and incredible story of survival and a path forward through adoption is a story you will only see here on news channel 8. night i'm keith kate i'm jennifer lee thank you for joining us tonight we present to you the boy who survived that horrible night and now he is thriving with the foster parents who took him home jeff patterson of newschannel 8 joins us now with his exclusive report on little ronnie and how ronnie's life has changed for the better keith and jen during trial that we were very careful to protect the identity of young ronnie he is a victim who managed to survive a horrible night but now with his permission and the permission of his adoptive parents we are sharing his story and the story of how he came to his new family you will see it was a trial that captivated the bay area and the nation began on march 18, 2018. mike blair of the hillsborough county sheriff's office received a call to respond to a crime scene in

riverview

blair has

responded

to hundreds of calls this it changed his life there was a child being transferred to tampa general but not expected to live ronnie o'neill iii accused of killing his girlfriend's daughter and seriously injuring his son ronnie insisted on acting as his own lawyer in a heartbreaking moment he questioned to ronnie in court how did i hurt you? he pulled me over ronnie iii was found guilty of murder but for ronnie now 12 its important to him that we remember his mom and sister she was just a good mom keniatta baron was back in school attending hcc but still had time to play soccer with him and ronnie he had his own special way of communicating with his disabled sister ronivia we liked a lot of things together she was kind at the hospital mike blair visited ronnie while he was recovering he held my hand and when i left he said if you could look at one movie with me at that point mike knew he had to talk to his wife we ​​were planning to go on a date that night and i said hey instead of going on a date do you mind if we go to a movie with this guy danielle blair went to the hospital where she and mike they watched a movie with ronnie i already knew i would like to take ronnie home with us from that night on but it didn't happen overnight until they got a call asking if they knew anyone who could encourage ronnie that call it became his calling i was driving by our church when the gatekeeper is asking hey do you know anyone who can help us danielle blair i had prayed for this moment i began to pray that god would soften michael's heart and say yes we do have a place al who belongs to ronnie now ronnie has a new family and five new siblings who have accepted ronnie into their lives one of the best moms and dads take care of me it has become more than just a new house for ronnie it is a home they even have a family mantra that it goes to family and i am sure i am

loved

and part of this family remarkable people the blairs have five children of their own and those children actually encourage corporal blair to bring ronnie home and home in their lives ronnie is now receiving therapy physical for his injuries and mental health care to protect him help him through this process and everything he's been through what an attractive family now although I think we were all captivated by this story to say the least and it was ronnie's decision to speak not so why now why did this young man want to talk? well he felt like he was very limited during the trial that he could say that was a lot he prepared for it but he didn't get a chance to say how much he

loved

his mother and how much he loved his sister that was important to him and to mike and danielle blair they say that horrible night was just a brief moment in ronnie's life it will always be part of his story they say but you don't have to define it it's a great story thanks for sharing it jeff glady i talked to you and you can see more of this story actually jeff has Been aware of this story from the beginning, you can see all your reports throughout the trial and the moments leading up to today on the wfla app.