DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Court TV) – A Florida woman was sentenced to 366 days in prison after pleading no contest to shooting her terminally ill husband as he lay in a hospital bed.
Ellen Gilland appears in court for her sentencing hearing Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Court TV)
Ellen Gilland, 76, was charged with assisting self-murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a firearm in the death of her husband, Jerry Gilland. In December, Ellen pleaded no contest to charges of manslaughter with a firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a plea agreement.
In exchange, prosecutors waived sentencing guidelines—including a three-year minimum for one charge—and agreed to a 10-year cap on her prison sentence. Judge Kathryn D. Weston said that she was sentencing Ellen not for pulling the trigger to help her husband die, but for the effects her behavior had on other patients in the hospital at the time.
Ellen was accused of fatally shooting Jerry Gilland in January 2023, then barricading herself in his hospital room for four hours before surrendering. Bodyworn camera video shown during Friday’s sentencing hearing showed Daytona police officers and then a SWAT team poised for action in the hospital hallway.
Friday’s hearing featured emotional testimony from others who were in the hospital that day, including nurse Hector Aponte and security officer Cory Jackson, both of whom described having Ellen point a gun and threaten them.
Ellen came to the podium and detailed not only her life and marriage, but the days, weeks and minutes that led up to her husband’s death. She described Jerry’s worsening health, criticized the care he received at the hospital and said that it was his idea for her to get a gun to end their lives together. Ellen said that Jerry tried to shoot himself, but was not strong enough to hold the gun or pull the trigger.
When the prosecutor questioned Ellen about the impacts her actions had on others in the hospital, including Aponte and Jackson, Ellen said, “I will regret many of my decisions for the rest of my life.”
Judge Weston said that she believed Ellen’s testimony that Jerry had been a party to the plan and wanted to take his own life, but emphasized the long-lasting impacts the shooting had on others as she handed down a sentence of 366 days in prison, followed by 12 years of probation. Judge Weston also ordered Ellen to perform community service and to write letters of apology to both the civilian and law enforcement victims who were in the hospital that day.
