DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 76-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting her terminally ill husband at a Florida hospital was released on $150,000 bond Friday night.
Ellen Gilland was initially charged with first-degree murder in January after police say she shot 77-year-old Jerry Gilland in a suicide pact she said they had planned for weeks. However, she failed to shoot herself after shooting her husband in her room on the 11th floor of the AdventHealth Daytona Beach hospital, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a news conference afterward. of the incident on January 21.
Instead, Gilland locked himself in for four hours. Police eventually used a non-lethal explosive to distract her and detain her, Young said. She had been held in the Volusia County Jail since her arrest. Jail records show she was released Friday night.
Gilland was indicted Wednesday on lesser charges of assisting to commit suicide/manslaughter and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
Two hospital workers heard a gunshot in room 1106 and saw Ellen Gilland sitting by the bed with her husband unconscious in a pool of blood, according to a police report. She pointed the gun at the two workers and ordered them out of the room. Another staff member also entered and ordered him to leave.