Woman, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison after entering plea for killing terminally ill husband as part of suicide pact

Ellen Gilland (Law&Crime).

A 78-year-old woman pleaded no contest to killing her terminally ill husband as part of a suicide pact, court records say.

Ellen Gilland, who was slated to go on trial on Jan. 6, entered the no contest plea to manslaughter with a firearm and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She appeared in court Tuesday to make the plea. As part of the deal, the state has agreed to a 10-year cap as to any prison sentence and waived a three-year mandatory minimum on one of the aggravated assault charges. Prosecutors also agreed to waive sentencing guidelines. Volusia County Judge Kathryn D. Weston will sentence Gilland Feb. 28.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Gilland was indicted on charges of assisting in self-murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and a count of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm in the Jan. 21, 2023, shooting death of her husband, 77-year-old Jerry Gilland at Advent Health Hospital.

Daytona Beach police previously said the couple allegedly planned the killing three weeks earlier. Jerry Gilland was supposed to be the actual shooter, but he grew too frail, Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said. A detective testified under cross-examination at a bond hearing that the husband was the person who loaded the gun, and Ellen Gilland held the gun to her husband’s head while he held her wrist, the detective said. The husband lacked the dexterity to carry it out himself, the investigator testified.

But prosecutors argued that Ellen Gilland was a danger to not just herself, but others too. Original charges included first-degree murder. Body camera footage showed responding officers outside the hospital room, where she was holed up after allegedly shooting her husband.

Police had pulled out their guns and repeatedly told her to drop her firearm.

“Tell me what’s going on,” an officer said. “I don’t want to hurt you. We don’t want to hurt you. Tell me what’s going on. Just talk to me.”

According to the charging affidavit, police said they responded to the hospital regarding a shooting. Ellen Gilland was in room 1106 with a gun when officers arrived on the 11th floor. Witnesses claimed to have heard at least one gunshot from inside the room.

“W1 and W2 entered room 1106 and observed the defendant seated on the left side of the patient’s bed,” the affidavit stated. “The defendant was seated with her back to the far wall and the patient bed between her and the entryway of the room. W1 observed the defendant holding a black revolver handgun which she had aimed at W1 and W2. W1 observed the victim laying unresponsive on the bed in a pool of blood.”

Gilland allegedly said she had a gun and told them to leave. Both witnesses said they smelled burnt gunpowder upon entering the room.

Officers worked to convince Gilland to surrender, but she kept her gun pointed toward the room doorway while authorities called out to her from outside, the affidavit stated.

Police said they managed to arrest Gilland without anyone else getting shot, but they claim she opened fire one more time.

“The tazer [sic] was deployed [after they used a flashbang], however it was unsuccessful in subduing the defendant,” the affidavit stated. “As the tazer [sic] was fired at the defendant, she fired one round from her handgun which struck the ceiling tiles above the victim’s bed.”

The detective testified that he believed the bullet that struck the ceiling was meant for officers. He claimed that there was a box with 45 live rounds remaining in the hospital room and more than 100 live rounds in Gilland’s vehicle.

A psychiatrist for the defense testified that he did not believe Gilland was a serious danger to herself or others. Her major depressive episode — which was triggered by her husband’s terminal illness — had passed, he said. Two of the woman’s nieces testified they would help care for her if she were released, with one saying the defendant could stay with her. Another niece said she would ensure there were no firearms in the home, and she would help Gilland make it to court hearings.

Admitting that the defendant clearly “loved her husband,” prosecutors described the case as “troubling.” They said, however, that Gilland posed a direct threat to everyone in the hospital when she brought and discharged a loaded weapon inside a full hospital, then pointed the gun at several others before discharging it again.

That bond hearing, which was under the original murder charge, ended with Judge Karen Foxman denying Gilland the chance at release. She posted a $600,000 bond with the lesser charges in the indictment.

Alberto Luperon and Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.

Woman, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison after entering plea for killing terminally ill husband as part of suicide pact

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Woman, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison after entering plea for killing terminally ill husband as part of suicide pact

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