FORT EDWARD, N.Y. — An upstate New York man on trial for fatally shooting a 20-year-old woman who was with a group of friends who accidentally drove into his driveway testified Friday that he thought he was under siege that night and now feels “like my soul dead.”
But he claimed the fatal shot had been fired accidentally.
Kevin Monahan, 66, took the stand in his defense to end testimony in his second-degree murder trial. He is charged in the death of Kaylin Gillis, who pulled into a driveway in a trailer with two cars and a motorcycle on Saturday evening last April while looking for someone else’s home. Authorities say Monahan fired two shots from his deck, the second of which struck Gillis in the neck.
Monahan told jurors he believed his home in rural Hebron, about 40 miles north of Albany, was “under siege” and faced an “invasion” as the caravan pulled into his long, winding driveway. He came out with a shotgun in an attempt to scare the group away while his wife hid in a closet.
“When you’re alone, you have to think of the worst-case scenario,” Monahan testified, according to the Times Union of Albany. “My only job is to protect my wife.”
Monahan said he first fired a warning shot to let the intruders know he had a working weapon.
“The warning shot to me is almost the same as starting a dialogue,” he later testified during cross-examination.
Monahan said he then tripped on nails protruding from his deck while wearing flip-flops. He lost his balance and accidentally caused his shotgun to fire at the Ford Explorer with Gillis, her boyfriend and two other young friends on board.
“I didn’t mean to shoot the second shot,” Monahan testified, according to the newspaper. “The gun went off.”
Monahan’s attorney, Arthur Frost, asked him if he pulled the trigger.
“No, I didn’t,” Monahan said.
Monahan cried on the stand and said the death left “a hole inside me.”
“It’s indescribable,” Monahan said. “I don’t even know how to react. I just feel like my soul is dead.”
Under cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris asked Monahan if he asked the people in his driveway, “Are you guys lost?” or tell them to go away.
Monahan said he thought if he said something it would make the situation worse.
Prosecutors allege Monahan showed a depraved indifference to human life by shooting at the SUV.
Monahan called 911 later that evening when police showed up at his home. Morris noted that Monahan said he had “slept soundly” and never told the counselor or police about the incident.
“I didn’t tell the truth,” Monahan said.
Monahan was the only witness called to the stand by his defense attorneys before resting their case Friday.
Closing arguments are expected on Monday.
Monahan, who has been in jail since the killing, also faces charges of reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.