Callum Jones
A man has been convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting a young woman after a car she was in drove into his driveway.
20-year-old Kaylin Gillis had been travelling with a group of friends, including her boyfriend Blake Walsh, when the car she was in pulled into a driveway in Hebron, approximately 40 miles north of Albany, in April 2023.
Another car and a motorcycle driven by friends joined the car on the driveway, but the group turned around as they realized they had arrived at the wrong house.
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Before they had chance to leave the property, 66-year-old Kevin Monahan came out on to his porch and fired two shots from a shotgun, one of which struck Gillis.
During closing arguments in court on Tuesday, the prosecution told jurors that Monahan was motivated by 'irrational rage toward trespassers'.
“He acted out of anger. That’s the only thing that can be inferred from shooting at people within 90 seconds of being on his property,” said Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris.
“He grabbed his shotgun and intended to make them leave as fast as possible and he didn’t care if they were hurt or killed.”
However, Monahan and his attorney maintained through that the shooting was an accident involving a defective gun.
Monahan himself took the stand in his own defense, telling the court he thought his house was 'under siege' by intruders when he saw the vehicles roll up onto this driveway.
He claimed that he tripped over nails sticking up from the porch, subsequently losing his balance as the shotgun fell out of his hands and onto the deck.
Monahan said this caused his gun to fire at the SUV that was carrying Gillis.
“I didn’t mean to shoot the second shot,” Monahan testified in court last week. “The gun went off.”
Nonetheless, it took the jury just an hour to find Monahan guilty of second-degree murder after shooting Gillis.
He was also convicted of reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.
Donald Boyajian, an attorney and spokesperson for the Gillis family, said: "Obviously it’s a just result, but a very sad time for the family.
"It doesn’t change what is going to be forever, which is the loss of their beautiful daughter."
The sentence carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, something Washington County District Attorney J. Anthony Jordan said prosecutors would be seeking at Monahan’s sentencing.
The date of sentencing is set for 1 March.