UNEXPECTED Anthony Vanelli sentenced for stabbing mother’s boyfriend
Unexpected dad Anthony Vanelli has been sentenced after repeatedly stabbing his mother’s boyfriend in 2023. Anthony was previously sentenced in December of 2024, but that sentence was vacated after Anthony was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial.
ANTHONY VANELLI SENTENCED FOR STABBING
On November 24, Anthony Vanelli was sentenced to 918 days in prison with credit for 918 days time served after pleading no contest to aggravated battery and resisting an officer without violence.
Despite the credit for time served equalling his sentence, Anthony is currently sill listed as being in custody.
According to the terms of his sentencing, Anthony is required to attend a dual-diagnosis in-patient treatment program. The sentencing documents state Anthony “is to be picked up by a representative of the treatment facility when a bed becomes available.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Anthony was placed on two years of community control, to be followed by three years of probation.
ANTHONY VANELLI MENTAL INCOMPETENCE
Anthony Vanelli was previously found guilty of both charges in December of 2024. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison with 568 days credit for time served. The sentence was to be followed by two years of community control, then three years of probation.
However, it was later determined that Anthony was not competent to stand trial. His public defender filed a motion to appoint an expert in March of 2025 stating the following:
1. The Defendant suffers from a mental illness. Defendant’s counsel believes that Defendant does not have the present ability to consult with his counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.
2. An expert is necessary to Determine Defendant’s competence to proceed.
3. This motion is made is good faith and on reasonable grounds to believe that Defendant is incompetent to proceed.
The judge appointed an expert to evaluate Anthony. After receiving the evaluation results, the judge ruled Anthony was not competent to stand trial in June of 2025. The judge ordered Anthony to be committed to The Department of Children and Family Services.
In early November of 2025, an order to transport Anthony Vanelli was issued by a judge. The order was issued after a representative from Anthony’s treatment facility informed the court he was “competent to proceed, or otherwise no longer meets the criteria for continued commitment” to The Department of Children and Family Services.
Anthony pleaded no contest again and was sentenced again.
ANTHONY VANELLI ON UNEXPECTED
For those Unexpected viewers needing a refresher on Anthony and his mom, below is a clip with both from the show. It should be noted that the man in the scene with Anthony (Markos) was Rebecca’s boyfriend at the time, but he is not the man Anthony stabbed.
Markos was charged with first-degree murder in 2019. That charge was dropped after Markos pleaded guilty to burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery with a firearm in 2023. He is currently in prison after being sentenced to 90 months.
ANTHONY VANELLI ARREST DETAILS
Anthony Vanelli was arrested in May of 2023 after he stabbed his mother Rebecca’s boyfriend repeatedly with a knife.
Rebecca spoke with police and stated Anthony and her boyfriend got into an altercation because Anthony was carrying a knife around the house with children present.
From the arrest report:
[Rebecca’s boyfriend] was at home watching basketball when Anthony arrived at the residence. They got into a verbal argument over Anthony walking around the house holding a knife while the children were inside. Anthony then stabbed [Rebecca’s boyfriend] in the back, and he felt a warm sensation. [Rebecca’s boyfriend] was then stabbed multiple times, sustaining puncture wounds to his chest and back. [Rebecca’s boyfriend] proceeded into the garage where his girlfriend’s two daughters were doing hair, and they observed him bleeding. The two girls immediately began to render aid.
Anthony left the residence and later attempted to run from police when confronted.
For more disturbing details on Anthony’s arrest, visit our previous post here.
#Unexpected mom Rilah Ferrer accuses her daughter's father Anthony Vanelli of domestic violence and posts an abuse photo. Her mom Rosa responds and shares a video showing Anthony being held back by police. https://t.co/MPKGfAATY8
— Starcasm (@starcasm) October 21, 2019
RILAH RESPONDS TO ANTHONY’S STABBING ARREST
After Starcasm broke the story about Anthony’s stabbing arrest, his ex Rilah Ferrer responded to the news on Instagram.
“His family was pressing me about me not letting him be around Malayah and I rest my case,” Rilah wrote. “He’s a nut job and I haven’t had my daughter around him in years. Hope his mom feels stupid rn.”
#Unexpected dad Anthony Vanelli arrested after he allegedly stole his step-grandmother's Mercedes & then donned a mask & hoodie before shooting his step-dad's house. Get all the details from the police report, plus Rilah's scathing response! #UnexpectedTLC https://t.co/0AxGmK8teI
— Starcasm (@starcasm) February 25, 2021
Anthony Vanelli’s arrest history
Anthony Vanelli’s aggravated battery arrest is the most recent in a long string of run-ins with the law. In October of 2019, Anthony was arrested for domestic violence after an altercation with Rilah Ferrer.
In February of 2021, Anthony was arrested again after allegedly stealing his grandmother’s car and shooting his former stepdad’s house. He was charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling (2nd degree felony) and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm (1st degree misdemeanor). Those charges were later dropped as the prosecutor decided not to move forward with the case.
Anthony was booked in November of 2021 and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after an altercation with a man at Anthony’s grandmother’s home. That charge was also later dropped.
In a previous incident involving a knife, Anthony was charged with felony aggravated assault in April of 2021 after he allegedly pulled a knife on a woman and told her he didn’t like the guy she was with.
Anthony’s attorney filed a motion to determine if Anthony was mentally competent to stand trial. The doctor “determined that the Defendant was incompetent to proceed to trial and that he met the criteria for involuntary commitment” in June of 2022. “The defendant is hereby committed to the Custody of the Department of Children and Family Services for involuntary placement in the Florida State Hospital, at a facility to be determined by the department.”
In November of 2022, Anthony was deemed competent to stand trial. He changed his plea to no contest for all charges in January of this year. He was sentenced to 337 days in jail, and credited for 337 days for time served.
Anthony was arrested by Seminole County police in February of last year after allegedly tampering with his ankle monitor and then attempting to run from an officer.
Due in part to the fact that Anthony was reportedly still wearing his working GPS monitor, he was apprehended at a nearby Catholic school. He was charged with a third-degree felony count of tampering with an electronic monitoring device as well as misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence and trespassing on school grounds.
This case was also put on hold after Anthony was deemed incompetent to stand trial. Once that changed, Anthony pleaded no contest for all charges. His sentencing was tied to his previous case and included in the sentence of 337 days in jail with credit for time served covering all 337 days.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
