A judge on Monday sentenced a woman to life without parole for the murder of a 3-year-old boy in an Ohio grocery store parking lot last summer.
Bionca Ellis, 34, was convicted earlier this month on multiple charges, including aggravated murder, in connection with the unprovoked attack. She did not testify during her trial, and her attorneys argued that she was not sane at the time of the killing, citing longstanding mental health issues.
The boy’s mother, Margot Wood, tearfully recounted in court how Ellis stabbed her son, Julian, and also injured her, saying she did not know Ellis prior to the attack. Wood described the horror of hearing her son’s screams and witnessing his terror, calling it a “living nightmare” she relives every day. Julian’s father, Jarred, described his son as bright, funny, and full of life, adding, “That monster took him from us,” and urged family and friends to keep his memory alive.
During sentencing, Wood told Ellis she deserved to spend the rest of her life in prison without mercy, while mental health experts testifying for the defense insisted Ellis was mentally ill and could not distinguish right from wrong. Defense attorneys argued that Ellis behaves like “two different people” depending on whether she is medicated and said they disagree with the verdict. Ellis briefly addressed the court, offering a partial apology.
Prosecutors said Ellis targeted the child after a confrontation with the North Olmsted Police Department, believing officers had taken money from her following a probation violation. Security footage showed her taking knives from a nearby store before arriving at the Giant Eagle grocery lot, where she carried out the attack. Prior reporting noted that Ellis had been released from jail on a separate case shortly before the incident, despite recommendations for further mental health evaluation.