New details have emerged in the random, fatal stabbing of a toddler outside an Ohio grocery store.
Police say 32-year-old Bionca Ellis fatally stabbed Julian Wood, three, while in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle supermarket in North Olmsted with his mother, Margot Wood. Ellis has since been arrested and charged with 10 counts, including aggravated murder, Sergeant Matthew Beck of the North Olmsted Police Department told The Independent.
Ellis is being held on $1m bond. Police say Ellis stabbed the boy on Monday and walked away within seconds, giving witnesses nearby no time to stop the attack, the Associated Press previously reported. Nasja Aude, Julian’s aunt, says Margot was also stabbed.
“While Margot was opening the trunk of her car to put groceries away the woman viciously attacked and stabbed both Margot and Julian,” Aude wrote on a GoFundMe for the Wood family. “Medical and Emergency services were on site immediately... Margot and Julian were rushed to St John hospital, but Julian’s injuries were far too extensive and he did not make it.”
Sgt Beck told The Independent that Ellis had never made contact with Julian or his family before the fatal stabbing.
“The motive is still unknown,” Sgt Beck said. “She is not cooperating with us as far as wanting to explain herself.” Ellis was indicted a day after the stabbing and will now face arraignment in the coming weeks.
Ellis has had two “prior run-ins with law enforcement”, Sgt Beck said. The first instance was in Florida for a “minor crime”. The second came in 2023 when Ellis was charged with theft at a North Olmsted Walmart.
She pled guilty to lesser charges and was put on six-month probation, police told local outlet Cleveland 19. However, she was briefly taken into custody last week after police found she did not complete an educational program ordered as part of her probation.
Judge Brian Hagan at Rocky River Municipal Court, who oversaw the theft case, told Cleveland 19 that Ellis has no apparent history of mental illness. Sgt Beck told Cleveland 19 that police are looking into the possibility but have nothing “concrete”.
Nasja Aude, Julian’s aunt, said the family would continue to cherish and remember the “sweet little boy”.
“This will be an incredibly long journey to recovery, but truthfully we will never recover – but we will continue to share stories about our beautiful baby boy, his laugh, his cheesy smile, his rambunctious attitude, his love of dinosaurs, his love of school, his obsession with his new baby sister and wrestling his big brother every chance he gets... and all the other beautiful things about that sweet little boy,” Aude wrote on GoFundMe.
“This is something no person, no family, no mother, no father, no grandmother should ever experience,” she continued. “We urge you all to hold your babies close. This should have never happened.”
The GoFundMe has raised more than $100,000 as of Wednesday afternoon, far surpassing Aude’s goal of $10,000.
