Kevin Monahan, suspect in the killing of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis, held without bail

The father of Kaylin Gillis, the 20-year-old who was killed when her boyfriend accidentally drove into the wrong driveway in rural upstate New York last Saturday night, told media he hopes the shooting suspect “dies in jail.” ‘.

Andrew Gillis addressed the press shortly after 65-year-old Kevin Monahan first appeared in court in Warren County.

Gillis was traveling through the city of Hebron in an SUV with her boyfriend and two other friends just before 10 p.m. when the group took a wrong turn on Monahan’s property.

They were attempting to turn the car around when it came onto his front porch and fired two shots from a 12 gauge shotgun, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy.

Judge Adam Michelini chose to hold Monahan without bail on a charge of first-degree murder, arguing that he was known in the community to be impulsive and that the media’s attention gave him cause to flee. ‘She was murdered. She is dead,” the judge said.

Kevin Monahan will appear in court for the first time on April 19. He was held without bail

“I hope he dies in prison,” Andrew Gillis said shortly after the judge’s verdict. Gillis thanked the judge and said, “Kaylin deserves justice.”

“I want to talk about Kaylin’s boyfriend. He wanted to marry my daughter. I would have loved that,” Gillis added. He said his daughters boyfriend, Blake Walsh, 19, believes the shooting was his fault. “It’s Kevin Monahan’s fault,” he said.

Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said after the hearing that more charges could be forthcoming for Monahan.

Speak against the New York Times Prior to the hearing, Adam Matthews, Monahan’s neighbor, said he was shocked by what his neighbor was capable of.

“I don’t know what brings someone to that level,” Matthews said. He described his neighbor as “righteous” who once raised an issue about a church erecting lights next to a basketball court “thousands of feet” from his house.

“He felt like they did it on purpose. This is the church, you know? It’s not like someone put up a floodlight to highlight their house,’ Matthews said.

In an interview with NBC News, Blake Walsh, 19, revealed he was the one driving on the fateful night. “I tried to press the accelerator as quickly as possible, and then the fatal shot came through.”

“We thought we had come to the right place. We had no cell service to sort it out. As soon as we found out we were in the wrong location, we started to leave, and that’s when everything happened,” said Walsh.

Monahan’s property is located on Patterson Hill Road in the city of Hebron near the Adirondack Mountains

Kevin Monahan, 65, was charged with second-degree murder and remains in custody at Warren County Jail, officials said

In an interview with NBC News, Blake Walsh described how life falls apart after Gillis’s death

Gillis was an aspiring marine biologist known for her bright smile and love of animals

Gillis’ friend said one of his friends shouted in the car, “They’re shooting – Go!” Inducing him to suddenly turn the car around and drive away.

Finally, after driving about five miles, the group reached an area where they had cell service. They immediately called 911, but unfortunately it was too late.

“I want to believe it was instantaneous. I hope it was. I pray it was,” Walsh said, tears welling in his eyes.

He added that the drive to get cell service felt like it only took 30 seconds, “the adrenaline was so pumping.”

Walsh went on to say that the couple met when he was a sophomore at Schuylerville High School, where Gillis will graduate in 2021.

He said the couple often joked that they were the “two percent,” a reference to the two percent of high school sweethearts who end up getting married. They dated for four years.

“I had high hopes and I had plans. I didn’t want to be with anyone else and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” Walsh said.

“I want the world to know how good she really was and how much of an impact she had on everyone who had the lucky chance to be in her life,” he continued.

Walsh will attend Monahan’s hearing and hopes the 65-year-old is punished under the full law. “I need to see who took my girlfriend from me. I have to look at him,’ he said.

According to Zillow, Kevin Monahan’s home was built in 2004 and is estimated to cost $310,000. It is only accessible via a dirt road.

Police say Monahan came out of his house and fired two shots from a 12 gauge shotgun

Walsh and Gillis were looking to party when they came across Monahan’s house

The driveway leading to the house is marked with a sign that reads ‘private drive’

Monahan’s attorney Kurt Mausert described Monday that his client had no previous criminal convictions and said he owns a contracting business in Washington County, about 60 miles northeast of Albany, close to the New York-Vermont border.

My preliminary opinion on this case is that it was a series of mistakes that led to tragedy. It’s too early to say more,’ said Mausert the New York Times.

The lawyer told CNN that his client told him that several vehicles had crashed into his driveway on Saturday night, including a motorcycle, revving their engines and behaving menacingly.

During an interview with News10, Mausert said the incident was a “series of tragic mistakes made by more than one person.”

“The situation where we have an elderly gentleman and his elderly wife who live in the dark woods in Washington County with three vehicles pulling into his driveway at high speed, shining their lights on his house and not leaving when he turns on the floodlights, so there was certainly cause for some anxiety in Mr. Monahan,’ added Mausert.

Alcohol, drugs or mental illness would not have played a role in the shooting, the Times-Herald reports.

The newspaper reports that there have been no recent reports of increased robberies or any reason for homeowners to be extra vigilant.

Town Supervisor Brian Campbell told the Times-Herald that Monahan previously attended local board meetings to discuss issues such as road repairs. Campbell described the suspect as “very reasonable.”

When officers arrived at Monahan’s home to investigate the shooting, he refused to come out, Murphy said. According to the sheriff, authorities spoke to him through 911 and in person for about an hour before he was taken into custody.

In an interview with CNN, Sheriff Murphy said Monahan already got legal aid before he came out of his house and turned himself in.

‘[He]has frankly shown no remorse in this matter,” the sheriff said.