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.
According to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records, 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.
Ohio Revised Code states the statutory time frame to determine if Ellis could be competent for a future trial is one year.
This comes after her attorney said in a hearing in July that she was incompetent to stand trial and was "not able to assist in her defense."
Jonathan Witmer-Rich, a law professor at Cleveland State University, said when a defendant is deemed incompetent, it means two things -- the defendant doesn't have the basic ability to communicate with their attorney, and there's a lack of awareness.
“Are they aware of the nature of the proceedings against them?" Witmer-Rich said. “OK, I'm in court right now. There’s a prosecutor, there's a judge, just the basic, you know, I’m facing criminal charges.”
Now that Ellis has been ordered to in-patient treatment at North Coast Behavioral Health, Witmer-Rich said there will still be updates given on her mental progress.
“Periodically, there will be another hearing, and we'll kind of report back and say so, have we made any progress,” said Witmer-Rich.
Suppose Ellis doesn't reach the competence level needed to go to trial within that time span. In this situation, she could remain at a psychiatric facility for safety measures.
“If the judge at the end of that determines that the defendant is a danger to herself or others, then they can be involuntarily committed to a mental institution at that institution. Of course, they're going to try to treat them,” said Witmer-Rich.
Ellis is indicted on seven charges, including aggravated murder and felonious assault; she's accused of stabbing a 3-year-old boy and his mother at a Giant Eagle in North Olmsted. But, deeming her incompetent to stand trial does not affect her charges; it pertains to her mental state now, not during the crime.
“So assuming at some point, the defendant is competent to stand trial and then at that trial, the defendant could try to present evidence that at the time of the offense, they were suffering from a severe mental illness. And because of that severe mental illness, they did not understand the wrongfulness of their conduct,” said
If that was the case, Ellis could plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but she must first go to trial, and even then, she could still be required to remain at a psychiatric facility if she's considered dangerous.
Witmer-Rich said that in these cases, the timeline can be unclear, but usually, the suspect does go to trial at some point.
RELATED: Bionca Ellis attorneys say she is 'incompetent to stand trial' for fatal stabbing of Julian Wood
Ellis was indicted in early June 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
RELATED: Suspect in 3-year-old's stabbing at North Olmsted grocery store parking lot indicted
According to authorities, Ellis allegedly stole two knives from the Volunteers of America store and then walked next door to Giant Eagle, in the 27000 block of Lorain Road, where she spotted a 38-year-old woman pushing a child in a cart.
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.
