Woman Accused of Shooting Hospitalized Husband Pleads No Contest

78-year-old Ellen Gilland, the woman accused of shooting her ailing hospitalized husband in a pact to have him die on his own terms, pleaded no contest in court on Tuesday. Gilland was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one each of assisting in self-murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm.

The terms of Gilland’s no contest plea, delivered to Circuit Judge Kathryn Weston from a walker, could spare her a prison sentence with the potential to take up the remaining portion of her life. She faces anywhere from simple probation to ten years in prison, with the State Attorney’s Office agreeing to drop a mandatory minimum of three years. Whether she faces prison time at her advanced age will be critical for Gilland’s twilight years. A formal sentencing is scheduled for February.

Background

The hectic and bizarre killing occurred in January 2023, when Gilland’s 77-year-old husband was being treated at an AdventHealth hospital in Daytona Beach. The husband was terminally ill, and so police say the two concocted a plan to end his life on their own terms. As he was reportedly too weak to take his own life, Gilland reportedly fired the shot herself.

The hospital entered a state of emergency following the shooting, with the ensuing standoff lasting for over three hours. The Daytona Beach Police Department’s SWAT team responded. They deployed a flash-bang device in the hospital room and apprehended Gilland with a taser. She reportedly fired a shot into the ceiling admist the commotion. She was arrested on the aforementioned four charges.

The Legality of Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is illegal in most of the United States, including in Florida. The eleven jurisdictions which explicitly allow the controversial practice are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

The legality of assisted suicide was last tested in Florida in 1997, with the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling in Krischer v. McIver. The court’s verdict ruled that Florida’s ban of assisted suicide was constitutional. A bill from Democratic then-state Senator Kevin Rader which would’ve legalized assisted suicide ultimately failed to gain traction.

Outside the United States, only a small number of countries have legalized assisted suicide.  Tthe practice is allowed within certain parameters in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and most of Australia. Additionally, the practice is advancing toward complete regulated legality in Colombia and Italy.