On Monday, June 3, 2024, Margot Wood's life changed forever. She was shopping at an Ohio grocery store with her three-year-old son, Julian, when Bionca Ellis began stalking the pair.
Ellis then approached Margot and her son in the store's parking lot, stabbing them both with a kitchen knife. Margot was wounded, and Julian died.
Authorities arrested Ellis, who was known to police for previous theft charges. She also had mental health issues. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Video of Ellis grinning in court soon went viral, and the public expressed outrage at the senseless crime. On October 15, Ellis was found guilty on nine counts, including aggravated murder, felonious assault, child endangering, and aggravated theft.
She was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole.
JUST IN: Cleveland woman Bionca Ellis sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering 3-year-old Julian Wood in a parking lot in 2024.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 27, 2025
Julian and his mother were both stabbed in the June 3, 2024, attack. Julian sadly didn't survive.
Ellis's attorneys tried claiming… pic.twitter.com/ltOQxSe8Yi
The smile she had while being arraigned is gone.
That smile was wiped clean off her face. pic.twitter.com/PzILwdlpcz
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 27, 2025
Ellis' attorney says his client is not the same woman she was on June 3, 2024, and Ellis herself spoke briefly saying, "I just want to apologize, I am really sorry for what happened."
In her witness impact statement, Wood recounted the horror Ellis put her through.
"That woman murdering my son replays in my head every single day," Wood said. "It is my living nightmare. The last thing I will ever hear from my son is his scream. And I can still see the tears in his eyes, and it haunts me every day. He was my baby boy."
Julian's father, Jared Wood, also spoke. He said, "Our home isn’t as loud and chaotic anymore, not the way it used to be. There’s no one dressing up for Halloween as a dinosaur," and added, "Now, all of our hearts will forever be missing a piece. It is up to all of us to keep his light shining."