Charges against a Florida woman accused of fatally shooting her terminally ill husband in his hospital room last month have been reduced, according to online court records.
Ellen Gilland, 76, was arrested on Jan. 21 after allegedly shooting her 77-year-old husband, Jerry Gilland, at AdventHealth Hospital in Daytona Beach.
Gilland was initially charged with first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to WFTV.
She’s been in custody since the shooting at AdventHealth Daytona Beach on Jan. 21. https://t.co/49fiXYAawC
— WFTV Channel 9 (@WFTV) February 22, 2023
On Wednesday, Volusia County online court records showed that a grand jury indictment against Gilland had reduced the charges to assisting self-murder/manslaughter, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.
Had Ellen Gilland been convicted of first-degree murder, she faced a mandatory life term in prison.
The charge of self-murder/manslaughter is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, online records show.
According to a news release from the Daytona Beach Police Department on Jan. 21, the shooting occurred at AdventHealth Hospital and Ellen Gilland barricaded herself in the hospital room for several hours before she surrendered.
Officers evacuated staff members and patients near the room at the Daytona Beach hospital, adding that the woman was not a threat to hospital personnel, WFTV reported.
No one else was injured, police said.
Ellen Gilland is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, online court records show.
