Giant Eagle Sued By Parents of Son Who Was Fatally Stabbed at Ohio Store
The parents of a 3-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in a Giant Eagle parking lot has filed a lawsuit earlier this the week against the food retailer. Jared and Margot Wood allege that the grocer’s lack of security contributed to their son Julian’s death from a random attack by Bionca Ellis.
Authorities say that on June 3, Ellis walked into the supermarket in North Olmsted, Ohio, followed Margot and Julian outside and repeatedly stabbed them. Margot suffered stab wounds trying to protect her son. Julian passed away in the parking lot.
Ellis left the scene but was later arrested. The attack was unprovoked, and Ellis did not know the Wood family.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Cleveland, alleges that Giant Eagle was negligent when it stopped hiring armed security guards to work at the store despite the number of violent attacks occurring in and around Giant Eagle locations in Ohio.
The lawsuit also claims that the store failed to monitor surveillance video showing Ellis walking into the store with a knife in her hand.
“While inside of the grocery store, Bionca Ellis, while brandishing her knife, walked past multiple Giant Eagle employees at the customer service desk and then [proceeded] to walk past and around customers and Giant Eagle employees near the self-scan checkout,” the court document said.
The lawsuit claims that had employees been monitoring the surveillance footage, they would have seen her prior to the attack.
Progressive Grocer received the following statement from Giant Eagle: “Our thoughts continue to be with the Wood family as we cooperate with authorities investigating the tragic and random act of violence. That said, we are unable to comment on pending litigation.”
Ellis was charged with aggravated murder, but she was ruled incompetent to stand trial. She is currently receiving treatment at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare to see whether she can be restored to competency.
In addition to Julian's death, a murder-suicide also occurred at the same North Olmsted Giant Eagle store in June 2023.
