Police in Ohio have shared a scary surveillance video that shows a suspect walking around a shopping center with a knife right before he stabbed and killed a 3-year-old boy outside of a Giant Eagle store in North Olmsted.
North Olmsted Detective Sgt. Matt Beck says that Bionca Ellis, 32, is charged with aggravated murder for reportedly cutting Julian Wood in the face and back and his mother, Margot Wood, 38, in the shoulder on Monday afternoon. The boy later died at a hospital. Ellis’s bond was set at $1 million during her first court appearance on Tuesday, according to news sources.
“To begin with, Mrs. Ellis was in the Volunteers of America thrift store, where she bought a butcher knife or some other kind of kitchen knife.” “At this point, we don’t know if she bought that knife or stole it,” Beck said at a press conference as police showed Ring camera video of her walking around with something pointed in her right hand.
“But then she was seen leaving Volunteers of America. She walked over to Giant Eagle, where she was caught on camera, saw Mrs. Wood and her son, and then followed them out to the parking lot.” They were then attacked by Mrs. Ellis somewhere near their car, Beck continued.
“She didn’t give any reason for doing this.” He also said, “We have some concerns about Ellis’s mental health, but nothing concrete at this point.” He added that Ellis refused to cooperate with police during their first interview on Tuesday.
There are also 911 calls and video from the North Olmsted Police Department that show the moment Ellis was arrested on Monday.
“There’s a kid at Giant Eagle who’s bleeding all over the place.” He’s outside. One woman who called could be heard telling the dispatchers, “We are in a parking lot right now.” She said she worked at a store and was on break in her car in the parking lot.
“In the parking lot, someone just stabbed a girl and a boy…” “I’m seeing her walk away with a knife in her hand right now,” said someone else.
Beck told the press that Ellis and the mother and child had not fought in the Giant Eagle store before the stabbing. He said, “Video shows that they just passed each other, Mrs. Ellis turned around, looked at her, and followed her out the door.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by family and friends to help the Wood family. The page says that “while Margot was opening the trunk of her car to put groceries away, the woman viciously attacked and stabbed both Margot and Julian.”
“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,” it says.
“This is something no person, no family, no mother, no father, no grandmother should ever experience,” it says. “Please hold your babies close.” There was no reason for this to happen.
People are also asked to pray that “some kind of justice is done for our family.”
