Random acts of violence occur with shocking regularity. There’s something incredibly chilling about a human being committing unspeakable violence against a stranger without rhyme or reason. But while violence is always despicable, some things are just too horrible to seem real.

A Random Attack

On June 3rd, 2024, Margot Wood took her 3-year-old son to the Giant Eagle grocery store in North Olmstead, a city about 15 miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio. As they left the store and walked to their car, neither noticed the woman following them.

The woman, 32-year-old Bionca Ellis, had somehow obtained a knife from the Volunteers of America Thrift Store, a non-profit that provides affordable housing and assistance to low-income people. As Margot opened the trunk of her car to put away her groceries, Ellis launched into a frenzied attack. She stabbed the mother and son repeatedly, severely injuring them both.

First responders got to the scene right away, providing aid to the victims en route to St. John Medical Center. While Margot’s injuries were non-life-threatening, the stab wounds on Julian’s back and chest were too severe–he died shortly after.

The Aftermath

Officers located Ellis walking towards Dover Center Road, the bloody kitchen knife still in her hand. She was immediately taken into custody without incident.

“This was entirely a random act of violence,” said Detective Sergeant Matthew Beck. 

According to Det. Sgt. Beck, Ellis had been arrested a few days before over a probation violation, after which she was quickly released. Aside from a couple of previous theft charges, Ellis had no history of violent crime.

“As a mother myself, I cannot fathom what this family must be going through,” said North Olmsted Mayor Nicole Dailey Jones. “We are all terribly sorry for their loss and I ask everyone to keep them in thought and prayer. Our police department continues its ongoing investigation of the crime as we attempt to begin healing and moving forward.”

Her Day In Court

A week later, Ellis appeared in court to face 10 charges including two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of endangering children. As the arraignment began, Ellis stood with her head held down, refusing to answer many of the judge’s questions. But when the judge began to read her charges allowed, something truly chilling happened.

Ellis smiled.

Video from the courtroom shows Ellis smiling and laughing multiple times throughout the reading of her charges, showing a chilling lack of remorse for her actions.

“There’s nothing that could ever replace my son or anything that my wife and I, even our other kids, are going through,” said Julian’s father as he pleaded with the court to deny bail. “Just do whatever you can to keep this monster behind bars.”

The judge ended up setting bail at $5 million, the maximum amount for these charges. Ellis is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Monday, June 17th.

For the family, this nightmare is far from over. They’ve set up a GoFundMe page requesting donations to help with the cost of Julian’s funeral arrangements and to cover any time off work.

“We will continue to share stories about our beautiful baby boy,” his family wrote. “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.”