The Brief
- A 78-year-old woman is facing sentencing for killing her terminally ill husband in what was meant to be a murder-suicide.
- Florida law does not allow assisted dying, sparking debate over end-of-life choices.
- Supporters plan to rally outside the courtroom, urging change.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Florida woman is expected to be sentenced in the deadly 2023 shooting of her terminally ill husband in his hospital bed at AdventHealth Daytona Beach. Some have argued for leniency for Ellen Gilland, saying it was an assisted-suicide pact into which she entered with her husband.
‘She did this out of love and compassion for her husband’
What we know:
Ellen Gilland, 78, is facing sentencing for shooting and killing her terminally ill husband in his hospital bed at AdventHealth Daytona Beach in January 2023.
Court documents indicate the couple had agreed to a murder-suicide plan, but Gilland did not follow through on taking her own life. Instead, she ended up in a standoff with police before being taken into custody. …