A New York man shot and killed 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis on Saturday after her friend pulled into his driveway they mistakenly believed belonged to another friend.
The incident occurred on Saturday night just before 10 p.m. in the rural town of Hebron. As the group of four young adults were turning around to get back to the main road after realizing their mistake, shots were fired.
Gillis was in the passenger side of the vehicle when a man fired two shots from his front porch, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said in a news conference Monday. One shot hit the vehicle and the other hit Gillis, the sheriff said.
The man, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, has been charged with second degree murder.
“It’s a very rural area with dirt roads. It’s easy to get lost. They drove up this driveway for a very short time, realized their mistake and were leaving, when Mr. Monahan came out and fired two shots,” Murphy said, adding that the area has poor cell phone service.
The other passengers were unable to dial 911 until reaching the nearby town of Salem. First responders arrived on scene and attempted to save Gillis’ life, but she was pronounced dead, according to ABC News.
Sheriff Murphy described Gillis as “an innocent, young girl” and said she comes from a “a very good family” whom he knows “personally”.
“This is a very sad case,” he said. “There was no reason for Mr.Monahan to feel threatened, especially as it appears the vehicle was leaving at the time.”
There was no known interaction between the group and Monahan. Once investigators determined that he was the owner of the residence in Hebron, they attempted to contact Monahan. However, he was “uncooperative with patrols on the scene” according to the sheriff.
Monahan’s attorney, Kurt Mauser told CNN’s Brynn Gingras that the 65-year-old had no idea the bullets had struck someone and that Monahan called Mauser to report there were four sheriff’s deputies on his road and had “no idea” what they wanted.
Mauser also pushed back against the idea that there was a standoff with the police.
“This was not a standoff,” he said. “This was my client and I not knowing what was going on in terms of the charges that were pending.”
Monahan, who has no known criminal history, is currently being held in the Warren County Jail in Queensbury, New York and will have an initial court appearance “in the near future”, according to Sheriff Murphy. A GoFundMe page was created to help Gillis’ family to help with funeral expenses and any immediate financial needs.
