Kevin Monahan, the “hot-tempered” New York homeowner accused of killing 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis when the car she was in accidentally pulled into his driveway, was charged with murder on Friday.
Authorities said Gillis was traveling through the city of Hebron in her boyfriend’s SUV with two other friends just before 10 p.m. when the group made a wrong turn on Monahan’s property.
They attempted to flip the car when Monahan came out on his porch and fired two shots from a 12-gauge shotgun, according to Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy, who claimed Monahan showed no remorse.
Monahan, 65, was charged Friday with manslaughter, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty, according to CNN.
His next scheduled court days are July 28 and the trial will begin in earnest in September.
Kevin Monahan, the ‘hot-tempered’ New York homeowner accused of killing 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis when the car she was in accidentally pulled into his driveway, was charged with murder on Friday
In early May, Kurt Mausert, his attorney, alleged in court that Warren County Judge Adam Michelini considered only the damage caused and Monahan’s history of gun use, but noted that Monahan had never been charged with gun-related crimes prior to April 15, according to WNYT.
Michelini had said he chose to hold Monahan without bail on manslaughter charges, arguing that he was known in the community to be impulsive and that the media’s attention gave him cause to flee.
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 via 911 and in person for about an hour before he was taken into custody.
Kevin Monahan, 65, was charged with second-degree murder and remains in custody at Warren County Jail, officials said
Murphy noted in an interview with CNN that Monahan had already arranged legal aid before he came out of his house and turned himself in to the police.
Additional fees may apply for Monahan.
In conversation with NBC news Gillis’ boyfriend, Blake Walsh, 19, revealed he was the one driving on the fateful night.
“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.
He said one of his friends in the car warned him about a shooting at Monahan, prompting him to suddenly turn the car around and drive away.
“I tried to press the accelerator as quickly as possible, and then the fatal shot came through.”
After driving about five miles, the group finally 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 lasted 30 seconds, “the adrenaline was so pumping.”
Monahan’s property is located on Patterson Hill Road in the city of Hebron near the Adirondack Mountains
Police say Monahan came out of his house and fired two shots from a 12 gauge shotgun
Gillis and her friends were looking to party when they came across Monahan’s house
In an interview with CNNMausert said his client told him that several vehicles had crashed into his driveway that night, including a motorcycle, revving their engines and behaving menacingly.
He also told News10 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 were not believed to have played a role in the shooting, the Times-Herald reported.
The newspaper stated there had been no reports of more robberies recently or any reason for homeowners to be extra vigilant.
But Town Supervisor Brian Campbell told the Times-Herald Monahan previously attended local board meetings to discuss things like road repairs. Campbell described the suspect as “very reasonable.”
Gillis is pictured here with her longtime boyfriend, Blake Walsh, 19. The two had hoped to get married one day
In an interview with NBC News, Walsh described how life falls apart after Gillis’s death
Monahan is pictured leaving the courtroom after being denied bail for a second time on Thursday
After Monahan’s initial hearing on April 19, Andrew Gillis – Kaylin’s father – said he hopes the accused shooter “dies in jail.”
He thanked Judge Michelini for his decision to deny Monahan bail, saying, “Kaylin deserves justice.
“I want to talk about Kaylin’s friend,” Gillis continued. “He wanted to marry my daughter. I would have loved that.’
Walsh met Kaylin when he was a sophomore at Schuylerville High School, where she graduated in 2021.
He said the couple often joked that they were the “2 percent,” a reference to the two percent of high school sweethearts who eventually get married. They dated for four years.
Speaking to the press, Kaylin’s father said that Walsh now blames himself for Kaylin’s death, but her father said, “It’s Kevin Monahan’s fault.”