Deranged child killer Bionca Ellis, who hacked a 3-year-old boy to death in a shopping cart as his mother unloaded groceries at an Ohio supermarket, will die in prison, a judge ruled.
Ellis, 34, who went viral for her sickening smiling and grinning for the camera during a court appearance soon after the killing, looked miserable as Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Russo slapped her with the maximum penalty.
A jury rejected her insanity defense for the ghastly murder of young Julian Wood, who she viciously stabbed in the face and back with a pair of stolen butcher knives in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle grocery store in the Cleveland suburb of North Olmstead in June 2024.
The boy’s mother, Margot, was also injured as she frantically tried to save her son by yanking him out of the shopping cart during the nightmarish assault, the court heard.
The attack lasted just five seconds, and Ellis was arrested minutes later, still clutching the bloody knife.
During the hearing, Julian’s father, Jared, described his son as “funny, outgoing, fearless” and “full of life, love and laughter” and called Ellis a “monster” during an emotional hearing.
“Now, all of our hearts will forever be missing a piece. It is up to all of us to keep his light shining,” said Jared.
Margot also spoke at the hearing, addressing Ellis directly and telling her “I hate you with every fiber of my being” as she stared her down.
“I watched him take his first breath when he was born and his last when he died in my arms, covered in blood,” said Margot. “The last thing I will ever hear from my son is his scream. I can still see the terror in his eyes and it haunts me every day.”
She heartbreakingly added, “If I want my family to be whole, we need to go to the cemetery.”
Ellis’ attorney, Fernando Mack, who had the unenviable task of defending the unrepentant maniac, claimed “what happened on June 3 is a different version of Bionca.”
Next Ellis herself briefly addressed the court, offering nothing but a limp, accountability-free glimmer of remorse.
“I just want to apologize, I am really sorry for what happened,” she said.
Ellis was convicted Oct. 15 on one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of endangering children and count of misdemeanor theft.
She was known to local police for prior theft charges but had no violent criminal history.
