Overview

• Jurors viewed security video and heard a Volunteers of America manager describe Ellis selecting two knives, leaving without paying, and entering Giant Eagle with a large chef’s knife in plain sight.
• Witnesses said Ellis immediately followed Margot Wood and her 3-year-old son Julian out of the store before a rapid parking-lot attack that killed the child and injured his mother.
• A North Olmsted officer and bystanders recounted Ellis’s calm demeanor, with prosecutors urging jurors to focus on her words and actions as evidence she knew the conduct was wrong.
• The defense concedes Ellis killed Julian but argues she is not guilty by reason of insanity, pointing to long-standing schizophrenia and her recent restoration to trial competency after inpatient treatment.
• Testimony continues Wednesday before Judge John Russo after Monday’s openings outlined a roughly weeklong trial with expected witnesses including police, store employees, nurses, and Ellis’s mother.