Video: Bionca Ellis asks to go to jail in Florida
CLEVELAND (WJW) — New video released to the FOX 8 I-Team shows Bionca Ellis asking to get arrested in Florida, an encounter with police months before investigators say she killed a child at a North Olmsted grocery store.
The new video came from authorities in Florida on Monday as Ellis went back to Cuyahoga County Court after police said she killed 3-year-old Julian Wood.
Ellis appeared for a short hearing on the case which has made national headlines. Investigators said Ellis attacked and stabbed Julian and his mother outside a Giant Eagle.
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The I TEAM had revealed Ellis has also had run-ins with police in other states including California and Florida.
In Florida, law enforcement body camera video shows Ellis arrested for trespassing at a hotel and she said she wanted to go to jail.
An investigator told her, “you need to leave the property.” Ellis replied, “What about getting arrested?” She refused to leave the property and when asked to explain why, she can be heard saying, “because its cold outside and I have nowhere else to go.”
Ellis has pleaded not guilty in the death of Julian, and lawyers are beginning to exchange evidence in the case.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutors have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty, and an I TEAM investigation has also uncovered gaps in the justice system you rely on to protect you.
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance has taken to social media to comment on the case involving Rocky River Judge Brian Hagan and his handling of Bionca Ellis.
We’ve learned more about how she kept getting back on the streets until she got arrested in connection with the deadly attack of Julian.
Last month, North Olmsted Police arrested Ellis for violating probation in a theft case. Police said a database didn’t show she had low-level warrants for assault in California.
Police didn’t know Ellis had told Cleveland officers she wanted to kill someone.
Detective Lieutenant Matthew Beck told us it’s unrealistic to expect every contact with law enforcement to show up, “If every law enforcement contact was entered into a database there would be nothing but, it’s just not physically possible to do that at a national level would be overload to the system.”
Rocky River Judge Brian Hagan released Ellis from jail on the probation violation days before police said she killed Julian.
The Judge released Ellis without holding a hearing even though a magistrate recommended a mental health check.
As a result, Senator J.D. Vance has called for the Judge to resign or be voted out. The I TEAM has questioned Hagan about why no mental health check was done and we’ve asked what he would do differently in a case like this next time. He has told us he’d do nothing differently.
Judge Hagan also said, “So, there were not any red flags shooting up that pole. There were not any indications here. No sign of previous violent acts.”
We also wondered what kind of check gets done by the probation office for the Rocky River Municipal Court. Clerk of Court Deborah Comery told us that the probation office only checks Ohio records.
Comery said, “we are not the FBI.” She added that the Rocky River Court does not have access to a national data-base check.
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The mother of Ellis has told the I TEAM Bionca has struggled with mental health issues.
Yolanda Eggleton said, “The hallucinations and the voices just got the best of her.”
Police said that nothing about that showed up in a national database.
Hagan did not respond to a request for comment about Vance’s call for a resignation.
The case has generated growing talk about what can be done to tighten gaps in the system.
Beck said, “with everything that ever occurs, there’s always a learning experience.”
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