Inset: Julian Wood (Ripepi Funeral Home). Background: Bionca Ellis at her sentencing hearing (Law&Crime).
The mother of a 3-year-old boy took a deep breath when she stepped to the podium to address the Ohio judge at the sentencing hearing for the woman convicted of stabbing her son to death as he sat in a shopping cart outside a grocery store.
Margaret Wood and her son Julian Wood on June 3, 2024, were shopping at a Giant Eagle supermarket in North Olmsted, a suburb of Cleveland, when 34-year-old Bionca Ellis ran up to them and repeatedly stabbed the boy, killing him.
"I watched my son take his, his first breaths when he was born and I watched him take his last in my arms — covered in his blood," Margaret told the court on Monday. "A mother should never have to bury their child. A mother is supposed to go first, not her children. A mother shouldn't receive her child's death certificate at 3 years old and his cause of death is by homicide. That woman murdering my son replays in my head every single day. It is my living nightmare."
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A jury convicted Ellis of murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and endangering children. On Monday, a judge sentenced Ellis to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Wood went on to say how the last sounds she will ever hear from him are his screams, and the last images are his "pain and fear before he was gone."
"I could still see the terror in his eyes," she said. "And it haunts me every day."
The boy's father, Jared Wood, told the judge how his son had a way of helping people, including helping his nonverbal older brother with autism speak and become more comfortable expressing himself. He loved dinosaurs and French fries from McDonald's.
"He was funny, outgoing, fearless, and full of life, love, and laughter. The energy he brought to the world was boundless," he said.
Ellis' defense attorneys blamed the course of events on her not taking her medication. They said that she had no prior criminal convictions and that when she does take her medication, she is polite and well-mannered. But when she is not taking them, the lawyers said, she's like a different person.
Ellis had not taken her medication for months before the murder, her attorney said.
The convicted murderer apologized in a brief statement.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John J. Russo said no sentence could "capture the enormity" of the victim's family's loss. He said while mental illness does not excuse Ellis' actions, the "glaring gap in our county's mental health support system is not lost on this court."
"It's in this spirit, I hope we all continue to confront the gap between the need for mental health treatment, and its effective and equitable distribution and provision to all of those in our community," he said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Ellis had stolen two knives from the Volunteers of America Thrift Store next to the grocery store moments before the stabbing, authorities said.
Ellis is said to have then walked next door into the supermarket, "spotted" the mother and son, and "followed them." Margot Wood paid for their groceries, and they left the store, walking into the parking lot, prosecutors said. But still, Ellis lurked behind.
The now-convicted defendant followed them to their vehicle and "immediately stabbed the 3-year-old," who was in the shopping cart, "multiple times," the prosecutor's office stated. "His mother attempted to pull him out and was also stabbed. Several people called the police and reported the stabbing."
North Olmsted police officers responded to the scene and saw Ellis walking toward a nearby road "with a knife in her hand," authorities said. She was arrested.
Wood and Julian were transported to an area hospital, where the child passed away. Wood was treated for her injuries.
Ellis had reportedly submitted a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Authorities did not believe the suspect and victims had any prior connection — and that the attack was a "random act of violence," the local outlet reported. It took jurors about 24 hours of deliberating before they returned with the guilty verdict.
Conrad Hoyt contributed to this report
