CLEVELAND, Ohio (Scripps News Cleveland) — The suspect accused of fatally stabbing 3-year-old Julian Wood earlier this summer in a Giant Eagle parking lot has been ordered to an inpatient treatment facility after being deemed incompetent to stand trial for the time being.
Bionca Ellis appears in court June 17, 2024. (Scripps News Cleveland)
According to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records, Bionca Ellis was undergoing a 20-day evaluation when the doctor treating her stated, “that the defendant is incompetent to stand trial, but that there is a substantial probability of restoration to competency within the statutory time frame if provided with a course of treatment.”
Ellis has been ordered to undergo treatment at North Coast Behavioral Health. Once treatment has been completed, she will be placed back into the custody of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office.
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Ohio Revised Code states the statutory time frame to determine if Ellis could be competent for a future trial is one year.
In July, Ellis’ defense said that she was incompetent to stand trial and was “not able to assist in her defense.”
In June, Ellis was indicted on the following charges:
- One count of Aggravated Murder
- Two counts of Murder
- Two counts of Attempted Murder
- Two counts of Felonious Assault
- One count of Endangering Children
- One count of Tampering With Evidence
- One count of Misdemeanor Theft
Authorities say Ellis followed the mother and her son, 3-year-old Julian Wood, into the parking lot and then stabbed the child while he was in a grocery cart.
When the mother tried to pull the boy out of the cart during the attack, Ellis stabbed her as well.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Cleveland, an E.W. Scripps Company.
