Overview
- Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Russo imposed the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the June 2024 killing of Julian Wood.
- A jury earlier convicted Ellis on multiple counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, child endangering and aggravated theft after a week-and-a-half trial.
- Prosecutors said Ellis stole two knives from a Volunteers of America thrift store, followed Margot and Julian Wood from the Giant Eagle, stabbed the child as he sat in a cart, injured his mother and was quickly found walking with a knife.
- Ellis’ attorneys had pursued a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity defense tied to her schizophrenia, but jurors rejected it; the judge assigned county public defenders for the anticipated appeal.
- At sentencing, the victim’s parents gave emotional statements, Ellis briefly apologized, and Judge Russo said mental illness does not excuse the crime while calling for improved city and county mental-health services.