FORT EDWARD, N.Y. — A man who fatally shot a 20-year-old woman in an SUV that accidentally pulled into his rural driveway in upstate New York will be sentenced Friday.
Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Kaylin Gillis last April. Gillis drove a caravan with two cars and a motorcycle into the long, winding driveway of Monahan in the city of Hebron while her friends looked for someone else’s house.
The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, a sentence prosecutors previously said they were seeking.
Gillis’ death attracted attention far beyond New York State. It came days after the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. Yarl, who is black, was injured by an 84-year-old white man after going to the wrong door while trying to pick up his younger brothers.
On the night of Gillis’ death, the group of friends were on their way to a party when they accidentally turned off Monahan’s driveway. Monahan emerged from his home and fired two shots from his deck, the second hitting Gillis in the neck as she sat in the front passenger seat of an SUV driven by her boyfriend.
Monahan insisted the fatal shot was an accident involving a defective weapon and that he believed the home he shared with his wife, about 40 miles north of Albany, was “under siege” by intruders. He said he came out with a shotgun to try to scare the group away while his wife hid inside.
Prosecutors argued that Monahan was motivated by irrational anger toward offenders.
A jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning guilty verdicts against Monahan in January on charges of murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.
Gillis’ father, Andrew Gillis, has described his daughter as someone who loved animals and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist or veterinarian.