Police said a woman with no prior history of violent crime stabbed and killed a 3-year-old boy outside of a grocery store in Ohio.
North Olmsted police said that the attack on Monday afternoon was unprovoked and random.
Detective Sergant Matthew Beck told reporters that the attacker was identified as 32-year-old Bionca Ellis of Cleveland.
‘This was entirely a random act of violence.’
An investigation found that Ellis obtained a kitchen knife from a thrift store operated by the Volunteers of America at about 3 p.m. She then walked to the Giant Eagle grocery store where she saw 38-year-old Margot Wood and her son Julian Wood of North Olmsted.
She allegedly followed them outside of the store and stabbed the boy in the head and his back and the mom on her shoulder.
Police provided first aid to both victims, and they were transported by ambulance to St. John Medical Center. Julian Wood was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Beck said that police were able to identify the suspect walking toward Dover Center Road while still clutching the kitchen knife. They detained her without incident. Ellis was arrested and charged with aggravated murder.
Beck said that the mother and her child had no prior interactions with Ellis and that they did not have any interaction before the attack.
“This was entirely a random act of violence,” he added.
He also said the entire attack only lasted about five seconds.
News photographs from the scene showed a grocery cart overturned and several items thrown onto the parking lot pavement.
The mother is expected to recover from the non-life-threatening injuries she received.
Bond was set for Ellis at $1 million. Police said other charges are expected to be filed after the case is presented to a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury.
While Ellis had no history of violent crimes, she had been arrested in May and convicted of stealing from a Walmart in Florida.
‘To lose their youngest child in such a violent and senseless manner is absolutely heartbreaking.’
North Olmsted Mayor Nicole Dailey Jones issued a statement of condolences for the family.
“As North Olmsted Mayor, and a mother myself, I cannot fathom what this family must be going through. To lose their youngest child in such a violent and senseless manner is absolutely heartbreaking,” she said.
“We are all terribly sorry for their loss and I ask everyone to keep them in thought and prayer,” Jones added. “Our police department continues its on-going investigation of the crime as we attempt to begin healing and moving forward.”
The same store was the scene of a murder-suicide between a divorced couple less than a year prior to the attack.
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