VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla — A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the case of a woman accused of fatally shooting her terminally ill husband at a Daytona Beach hospital last year.
Ellen Gilland was charged with assisted suicide/homicide in the January 2023 shooting death of her husband, 77-year-old Jerry Gilland. According to Daytona Beach police, the shooting, which occurred in his hospital room, was part of a murder-suicide arrangement.
“The goal was for him to do it, but he didn't have the strength, so she had to do it for him,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said during a news conference. “We managed to establish a dialogue with her. We used a distraction device to get her to put the weapon away long enough for us to use less lethal force and take her into custody.”
Thursday's hearing will hear requests from prosecutors to exclude testimony from defense witnesses – a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner – in the upcoming trial. Court documents show her trial is currently scheduled to begin on January 3, 2025.
The state argues that Ellen Gilland's attorneys did not say they would seek an insanity defense, and for that reason, “expert testimony about mental status, particularly when offered to support an affirmative defense, is in and out of favor.” “felt inappropriate as they would only serve to confuse the jury,” the motion states.
The fatal shooting at AdventHealth Daytona Beach led to a standoff between Ellen Gilland and police after she barricaded herself in her husband's room for four hours. She told police that she and her husband planned the shooting together three weeks in advance.
Bodycam video showed Ellen Gilland arguing with police before surrendering. At some point, police say, she shot them.
Part of the hospital was evacuated and some doctors, nurses and others sought refuge in locked closets and rooms. Ellen Gilland did not hurt herself and no one else was hurt.
Gilland was also charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated assault on a police officer with a firearm.
Gilland was initially denied bail when she was charged with first-degree murder, but was later released from prison in March 2023 when her charges were reduced.
Thursday's hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m
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