Conviction Upheld for Woman Who Killed Toddler, 3

An Ohio appeals court has upheld the conviction of a woman serving life in prison without parole for fatally stabbing a 3-year-old boy outside a suburban Cleveland supermarket.

In an Oct. 8 decision, a three-judge panel of the Eighth District Court of Appeals rejected all three arguments raised by Bionca Ellis, 34, who was convicted in October 2025 of aggravated murder and eight other counts in the death of Julian Wood. "Her convictions are affirmed," the ruling states.

Prosecutors say that on June 3, 2024, Ellis stole two knives from a Volunteers of America thrift store next to a Giant Eagle in North Olmsted, then went into the supermarket, where she spotted Julian and his mother, Margot Wood. She followed them into the parking lot and attacked as the boy sat in a shopping cart and his mother was about to load groceries into her car. Prosecutors say the attack took less than five seconds. Julian died at a hospital. His mother was stabbed in the shoulder.

Ellis had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. On appeal, her attorneys argued that a state expert misstated Ohio's legal standard for insanity, that the trial court failed to correct a prosecutor's remark during closing arguments, and that her trial attorneys failed to protect her rights.

The panel agreed the prosecutor got part of the insanity standard wrong during closing arguments, but found the mistake did not affect the verdict. The judges noted that the expert stated the correct legal test several times and that the trial judge properly instructed jurors before deliberations.

Ellis' defense team will decide whether to take the case to the Ohio Supreme Court. Cuyahoga County prosecutors maintain that Ellis knew what she was doing when she attacked the boy and his mother.