LIVE BLOG: Justice for Julian trial: Day 4: State rests its case

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - 19 News is providing a live blog of the murder trial for toddler Julian Wood.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Russo is not permitting witness testimony in the Bionca Ellis trial to be broadcast live.

Ellis, 34, is accused of fatally stabbing the 3-year-old and injuring his mother.

She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of endangering children, one count of tampering with evidence and count of misdemeanor theft.

You’ll find live updates below from each day of the trial.

DAY 4, Thursday, October 9

The prosecution rested its case late Thursday morning after calling their last witnesses.

The first person to take the stand was North Olmsted Police Detective Sean Ventrice, who took the jury through the investigation from his perspective as the lead investigator on the case.

He walked the jury through the timeline of events, which included a compilation of security camera videos from the police department, Volunteers of America, and the inside and outside of Giant Eagle.

The prosecution’s final witness was Dr. Elizabeth Mooney, who works in the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office.

She took the jury through nine autopsy pictures of Julian, explaining her findings.

Mooney says the child sustained multiple four-inch stab wounds.

When the prosecution asked about the cause of death and the manner of death, she gave the jury her findings.

“Stab wounds of the face and back,” said Mooney. “{The manner of death was} Homicide.”

Mooney was the last witness the prosecution called before resting and turning things over to the defense.

Ellis’ legal team immediately flipped the focus of the trial to her mental health, calling to the stand Dr. Megan Testa.

She specializes in forensic psychiatry and works as a court-appointed medical evaluator, working with Ellis after her arrest.

She agrees with the prior diagnosis of schizophrenia, and lawyers highlighted while she testified to Ellis’s lengthy medical history of mental disorders dating back to 2014.

“She was seeing visions of people coming out of her walls to try and kill her at night, she was talking about Albert Einstein and a bowl of ants, she hadn’t been able to sleep, the record stated she was visibly hallucinating at that time,” said Dr. Testa when diving into one record from 2023.

She also read documents from another hospital visit in February of 2024, just months before the attack.

“Police told the professionals there she had called and asked to be arrested for murder and conspiracy; there was no evidence for arrest for that,” said Dr. Testa.

She says there is a stark contrast to Ellis’ personality when she is on medication and when she is off it.

“It (hallucinations) feels real to the person with schizophrenia; what they are thinking feels real, what they are experiencing feels real,” said Dr. Testa.

She testified she did not evaluate if Ellis was sane at the time of the attack, only that she was able to understand the charges against her, which at first she did not.

She also said on the stand that just because a person has schizophrenia does not mean they have zero control over their actions.

The court was adjourned after Dr. Testa’s testimony.

DAY 3, Wednesday, October 8

The second witness called to the stand on day three of the trial was Julian’s mother, Margot Wood.

She took the courtroom through the attack, sharing exactly what happened in the parking lot of the Giant Eagle.

“I saw her coming, walking towards us, and I noticed she had a knife in her hand, and I said, ‘Oh no, Julian,’” said Margot Wood.

Margot Wood described Bionca Ellis stabbing the back of a car’s trunk as she tried to put herself between Ellis and her son.

“And I got scared, but when I was pushing the cart back, it fell over,” said Margot Wood.

She then walked the court through the horrifying and graphic details of the stabbing, tears forcing her to pause time and again.

After the attack, Margot Wood described Ellis leaving the scene. “She just walked away, like nothing, she just walked away.”

The jury also heard the first witness testify about confronting Ellis just moments after the attack.

Travis Bush, a DoorDash driver picking up a delivery on June 3, witnessed the attack happen just feet from his car.

After Ellis walked away, he says he followed her in his car in the next parking lane over.

“When I pulled up next to her, I asked her, ‘Do you know you stabbed that kid?’” said Bush. “And her response was a shrug of the shoulders.”

He also testified to Ellis mouthing the word, “so,” as she shrugged.

In cross-examination, the defense asked why this interaction with Ellis was not in Bush’s original statement to the police.

Bush’s only explanation is that he was pulled away, and the time he was able to offer a statement was brief.

Throughout the afternoon, the state called several witnesses describing what happened when Ellis was taken into custody.

Several officers from the North Olmsted police department took the stand, describing the process of arresting and booking Ellis into jail.

While the defense did not cross-examine many of the witnesses who were in the parking lot or only asked a few questions, there was a lengthy cross-examination for the officers who booked Ellis, trying to establish how she acted or interacted with police.

As previously reported, the defense is trying to establish Ellis’s state of mind that day in June as they continue to argue their insanity plea.

It is expected that the State will call two more witnesses on Thursday morning before resting its case.

DAY 2, Tuesday, October 7

The prosecution called its first witness just before 9 a.m.

First on the stand was a North Olmsted police officer who talked with Bionca Ellis in the North Olmsted Police Department before the attack at Giant Eagle.

The second witness is the manager at the Volunteers of America, who was working the day of the attack. She testified to seeing Ellis in the store, even stating she saw Ellis holding the knives.

She identified them as knives from the store by the price tags on them.

The third witness was in the parking lot of the Giant Eagle, shopping before the attack happened. He says he saw Ellis walking away from the scene with a knife while also hearing screaming from the area of the attack. He noted during his testimony how casual Ellis looked walking away with the knife.

The fourth witness called, detective for the North Olmsted Police Department Manuel Roman, walked the state through the video evidence.

He described what each video held, walking the jury through the multiple clips showing Ellis inside Volunteers of America.

He talked through clips showing the outside of Giant Eagle as Ellis walked into the store with a knife, the angles of Ellis in the grocery store, her turning and following the victims out to the entryway of the store, and eventually more video from outside showing Ellis following the victims into the parking lot.

Following the detective, several witnesses from the parking lot were called.

Shoppers, several of them registered nurses, and a Giant Eagle employee on his break, all in the parking lot during the attack.

“I saw a woman stabbing a mother and child, I saw the knife covered in blood, I saw violent motions towards a mother and child,” said Matthew Stroud, who was there with his wife to get groceries.

“I saw a woman, covered in blood, holding a child, and someone standing over them,” said Giant Eagle employee Griffin Schopf.

Several testify to following Ellis after the attack to point her out to police, noting how calmly she walked away from the crime scene with a bloody knife.

One witness even said she had a smile on her face.

DAY 1, Monday, October 6

Opening statements in the trial against Bionca Ellis were heard this afternoon.

Here’s the break down from both sides.

Prosecution: Pay attention to actions and words they’re very very important in this case, and when you do that you will find Bionca Ellis guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for each and every count of this indictment.

Defense: She acknowledges through her lawyers whether she testifies or not that she’s responsible for the murder of Julian, she acknowledges through her lawyers that she’s responsible for the attempted murder of Margo, there’s no running away from that, that’s not what this trial is about, the evidence will show, though, that it is obvious she was insane at the time of the offense.

It’s been 490 days since Julian Wood was stabbed to death at the North Olmsted Giant Eagle.

THE COURT CASE

The jury trial against Bionca Ellis began with jury selection on Thursday, Oct. 2.

The defense requested the jury be sequestered in a last minute move, but the motion was denied.

Mental health is expected to be a major topic in the courtroom.

Fernando Mack, the attorney representing Ellis, filed a motion in August to change her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

She was previously found incompetent to stand trial, and it took about five months for her competency to be restored.

During that time, she was ordered to take her prescribed medication and receive treatment at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare.

BACKGROUND

Bionca Ellis is accused of stabbing Julian and Margot Wood in the parking lot of the North Olmsted Giant Eagle on June 3, 2024.

Julian died from his injuries and Margot survived.

North Olmsted police arrested the Cleveland woman minutes later, still carrying the kitchen knife used in the “random” attack.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley alleges Ellis stole two knives from the Volunteers of America Thrift Store, next door to Giant Eagle.

She then walked into Giant Eagle, where prosecutors said she spotted the victims walking out and followed them.

There was no altercation inside the store.

She is accused of stabbing Julian while he sat in the shopping cart.

O’Malley said Margot was stabbed while trying to pull her son from the cart.

In October 2024, parents Jared and Margot Wood filed a lawsuit against Giant Eagle, alleging the company had put profits over safety.

The 3-year-old is remembered for his cheesy smile and rambunctious attitude. He loved dinosaurs and school.

CRIMINAL HISTORY

Days before the stabbings, police encountered Bionca Ellis during a situation at Walmart.

She was arrested, held and released on a probation violation.

The same day as the attack, police said Ellis visited the North Olmsted Police Department to discuss her arrest.

She also had a past case in Florida.

Court records show a criminal history including shoplifting, criminal trespass and traffic violations.

Police said at the time, Ellis had not shown “any violent tendencies” prior to the stabbings.