A woman has been handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the fatal stabbing of a three-year-old boy outside a supermarket.
Bionca Ellis, 34, of Cleveland, remained expressionless as Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Russo imposed the sentence on Monday.
The court heard Ellis was responsible for the northeast Ohio attack in June 2024 that killed Julian Wood and injured his mother, Margot Wood. Earlier in October, a jury found Ellis guilty of aggravated murder, felonious assault, child endangering, and aggravated theft. She has been held in custody on a $5 million bond since her indictment last year.
Authorities said Ellis entered the Giant Eagle grocery store in North Olmsted armed with two knives that she had stolen from the Volunteers of America Thrift Store next door. They said she spotted Julian and his mother near the front and followed them into the parking lot.
The mother was about to load her groceries into her vehicle when Ellis ran at them with a knife, stabbing the toddler twice before walking away. The boy died at a hospital while Margot Wood was treated for a shoulder stab wound. Prosecutors said she tried to pull her son out of the cart during the attack.
“I have seen unimaginable acts of violence — but this is among the most heartbreaking,” prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said in a statement. “Bionca Ellis’ horrific actions warrant nothing less than life without parole.”
Ellis’ attorneys, Fernando Mack and Carlos Johnson said the judge’s ruling is “the wrong outcome” and that Ellis will appeal the conviction and the sentence. They had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
“At the time that she’s arrested and all the way through, she’s deemed incompetent, really, so it’s hard for us to swallow,” Mack said. “To think that she was only OK just for that moment, just for that day, but all the other days we’ll concede that she had some severe mental disease kicking in.”
Ellis’ defense attorneys had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Margot Wood and Jared Wood, the toddler’s father, delivered a statement to reporters after the original verdict thanking the community for its support.
“Everybody that’s visited him, commented, sent love, we appreciate you guys so much,” Margot Wood said. “This was for him today.”
