Man Convicted of Second-Degree Murder for Shooting Woman in New York Driveway

In a tragic incident in upstate New York, Kevin Monahan, a 66-year-old man, was convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis last year.

¿What happened?

The unfortunate incident occurred when the SUV Gillis was riding in mistakenly drove up Monahan's rural driveway near the Vermont border. A jury found Monahan guilty of second-degree murder for shooting Gillis on a Saturday night last April after she and her friends pulled into his driveway while they were trying to find another house. The group realized their mistake and started to leave, but Monahan, armed with a shotgun, came out to his porch and fired twice at the departing vehicles. Tragically, the second shot hit Gillis in the neck as she sat in the front passenger seat of an SUV driven by her boyfriend.

The Trial

During the trial, Monahan and his attorney maintained that the shooting was an accident involving a defective gun. Monahan testified that he felt his house was "under siege" when the vehicles pulled up his driveway and fired a warning shot to make the intruders aware that he was armed. However, he claimed the second, fatal shot was unintentional, attributing it to tripping over nails sticking up from the deck, causing the shotgun to fire at the Ford Explorer carrying Gillis. Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that Monahan showed a depraved indifference to human life by firing at the SUV, stating that he acted out of anger and intended to make the group leave as fast as possible, regardless of the potential harm or fatalities. They also presented evidence that Monahan claimed to have been sound asleep when the police showed up at his house later that night.

Aftermath and Reactions

The shooting of Gillis occurred shortly after the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. Yarl, who is Black, was wounded by an 84-year-old White man after he went to the wrong door while trying to pick up his brother. These incidents have sparked conversations about racial tensions and the use of deadly force. Gillis' father, Andrew Gillis, has described his daughter as someone who loved animals and had dreams of becoming a marine biologist or a veterinarian. The tragic loss of such a young and promising life has left the community in mourning.