Bail set at $5 million for woman accused of fatally stabbing 3-year-old outside Ohio supermarket

CLEVELAND — Bail was set at $5 million Monday for a woman who authorities say fatally stabbed a 3-year-old boy last week as he sat in a grocery cart outside a local supermarket. 'Ohio and hurt his mother.

The ruling by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo concluded an arraignment hearing for Bionca Ellis, 32, of Cleveland, that took three attempts and nearly an hour, reported Cleveland.com.

Authorities said Ellis was inside the Giant Eagle grocery store on June 3 in the Cleveland suburb of North Olmsted when she saw Julian Wood and his mother, Margot Wood, near the entered and followed them into the parking lot.

The mother was about to load her groceries into her vehicle when Ellis ran at them with a knife, stabbing the boy twice, in an attack that lasted less than five seconds before Ellis distant. The boy died at the hospital while Margot Wood was treated at the hospital for a stab wound to the shoulder – an injury prosecutors said she suffered after trying to get the boy out of the cart during the attack.

Authorities have not given a motivation for the attack, which they say was a chance incident. Ellis is represented by the public defender's office, which generally does not comment on cases.

On Monday, Ellis appeared for the first time by video from the county jail, but looked at the ground as Russo asked her if she had a copy of the indictment that charged her with aggravated murder and other related charges. Ellis initially told the judge, “I don’t know,” then stopped responding despite the judge’s multiple requests. Russo then asked Ellis why she wasn't responding, and Ellis remained silent.

The judge then moved on to other indictments, but called Ellis back a few minutes later and asked her again if she had the indictment. Ellis again said she did not know, and an assistant public defender, whose office had represented Ellis in an unrelated case, told Russo that Ellis had mental health issues and had tried to waive the right of Ellis to revise the indictment before being brought to trial.

Russo refused, saying it was not appropriate because prosecutors could seek the death penalty. She then ordered Ellis to appear in the courtroom and for the public defender's office to review the indictment with her.

In the courtroom, Ellis said she asked Cuyahoga County Assistant Public Defender Linda Hricko not to read her indictment. When Russo asked if Hricko did it, Ellis muttered no but Hricko nodded yes. The judge then read aloud the ten charges and Ellis appeared to smile.

Speaking during Monday's hearing as Ellis stood a few feet away with his back turned, Julian's father told the judge he did not want Ellis to be free on bail.

“Nothing can ever replace my son, or anything that my wife and I and our other children are going through. It’s horrible,” Jared Wood said, struggling to maintain his composure. “Do everything you can to keep this monster behind bars.”