An elderly woman who fatally shot her terminally ill husband in a botched suicide pact at a hospital said she has no regrets because “there wasn’t anything else to do” to end his suffering.
Ellen Gilland, 76, shot and killed her bedridden husband Jerry Gilland, 77, at AdventHealth Hospital in Daytona Beach on Jan. 21, 2023 — sparking an hours-long standoff with police before she was arrested.
Ellen agreed to a suicide pact with Jerry, whose health was failing amidst a battle against depression and a form of dementia, around New Year’s. Jerry was originally supposed to shoot himself, but didn’t have the strength to lift the gun, so Ellen pulled the trigger for him, Daytona police said.
Gilland told Fox 35 that she is not a violent person, and “never planned” to harm any of the staff who dutifully cared for Jerry in his final days.
“I basically was going to take my own life, but I got hysterical,” she explained.
A well-meaning nurse came to check on the commotion, suspecting someone had fallen, but Ellen brandished the gun at them in a moment of panic, police said.
The hospital plunged into a lockdown as patients and staff alike barricaded themselves into rooms. Ellen was arrested after a few hours and wheeled out of the hospital in cuffs.
Ellen entered a no contest plea to manslaughter, aggravated assault with a firearm, and aggravated assault on law enforcement. She was just released from prison in November and is now serving 12 years of probation, plus monthly community service as long as she is physically able.
Now that she’s back in the real world, Ellen told the outlet that she’s working on “accepting the consequences” of her actions — but doesn’t have any regrets.
“There wasn’t anything else to do,” Ellen said.
“I have to figure out how to survive this,” she added.
Ellen and Jerry had been inseparable since middle school, and she still struggles to continue living her life without him by her side.
“I knew how difficult it would be, to be without him,” Ellen told the outlet.
Still, she said she avoids belaboring on their botched suicide pact, and the outcome, whenever possible.