A judge on Thursday set an early January trial date for the woman accused of killing her elderly husband in a Florida hospital as part of a suicide pact.
Volusia County Judge Kathryn D. Weston has scheduled Ellen Gilland, 78, for trial on January 6. There will be 90 jurors called into court that day, and the court hopes to seat a jury by Monday, Weston said.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Interlicchio stated that if everything goes according to plan, he will rest his case within a day or two.
In the shooting death of her husband, Jerry Gilland, 77, at Advent Health Hospital on January 21, 2023, Gilland faced charges of assisting in self-murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and one count of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm.
On Thursday, the prosecution attempted to prevent some defense witnesses, including hospital workers who treated Jerry Gilland, from testifying at trial, claiming their testimony would “be for the impermissible purpose of eliciting sympathy.”
The hospital staff could testify that he expressed a desire to commit suicide while receiving treatment. Weston ruled that the hospital staff could testify about the victim’s suicidal thoughts because they are central to the defense theory that his wife was acting on his behalf.
After the roughly 25-minute hearing, court deputies assisted Gilland in getting up, and she smiled as she walked out of the courtroom with the help of a walker.
Daytona Beach police previously reported that the couple had planned the murder three weeks prior. Jerry Gilland was supposed to be the shooter, but he became too frail, Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young stated.
A detective testified under cross-examination at a bond hearing that the husband loaded the gun and that Ellen Gilland held it to her husband’s head while he held her wrist. The husband lacked the dexterity to do it himself, the investigator testified.
However, prosecutors argued that Ellen Gilland was a danger not only to herself but also to others. The original charges included first-degree murder. Body camera footage showed responding officers outside the hospital room where she had holed up after allegedly shooting her husband.
The police had drawn their weapons and repeatedly ordered her to drop her firearm.
“Tell me what’s going on,” an officer inquired. “I do not want to hurt you. We don’t want to cause you any harm. Tell me what is going on. Just talk to me.
According to the charging affidavit, police responded to the hospital for a shooting. Ellen Gilland was in room 1106 with a gun when police arrived on the 11th floor. Witnesses claimed they 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,” according to the confession.
The defendant’s back rested against the far wall, with the patient’s bed situated between her and the room’s entryway.
W1 noticed the defendant holding a black revolver handgun, which she had aimed at W1 and W2. W1 saw the victim lying motionless on the bed in a pool of blood.”
Gilland allegedly stated that she had a gun and instructed them to leave. Both witnesses reported smelling burnt gunpowder when they entered the room.
Officers attempted to persuade Gilland to surrender, but she kept her gun pointed at the room doorway while authorities called out to her from outside, according to the affidavit.
Police said they arrested Gilland without shooting anyone else, but she allegedly opened fire again.
The confession states that they deployed the taser after using a flashbang, but it failed to subdue the defendant. “The defendant fired one round from her handgun at the taser, striking the ceiling tiles above the victim’s bed.”
The detective testified that he believed the bullet that hit the ceiling was intended for officers. He claimed that a box containing 45 live rounds remained in the hospital room and that Gilland’s vehicle contained more than 100.
A psychiatrist for the defense testified that he did not believe Gilland posed a serious threat to herself or others. Her husband’s terminal illness had triggered her major depressive episode, he said.
Upon the woman’s release, two of her nieces pledged to assist in her care, with one even suggesting that the defendant could reside with her. Another niece stated that she would ensure that no firearms were present in the home and would assist Gilland in getting to court hearings.
Prosecutors admitted that the defendant clearly “loved her husband,” but described the case as “troubling.”
They claimed, however, that Gilland posed a direct threat to everyone in the hospital by bringing and discharging a loaded weapon inside a crowded hospital, then pointing the gun at several others before firing it again.
That bond hearing, which was under the original murder charge, ended with Judge Karen Foxman denying Gilland’s release. She posted a $600,000 bond for the lesser charges in the indictment.
