The shotgun-wielding homeowner who fired two shots at a car that turned into his driveway accidentally, killing a 20-year-old woman, was sentenced to the maximum allowed on Friday.
Kevin Monahan was convicted on January 23 on second degree murder, reckless endangerment, and tampering with evidence, as CrimeOnline reported.
On Friday, Judge Adam Michelini told the 66-year-old gunman that “I really think you could do the same thing again,” according to the Albany Times-Union.
“It’s obvious to me that you feel justified,” Michelini said. “You don’t take any responsibility for the outcome of your actions. You just don’t get it.”
The jury clearly felt the same in January, taking just two hours to return the guilty verdict in the death of Kaylin Gillis.
Gillis was in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, on April 15, 2023, with two other friends in the back seat. They were traveling with other friends in another vehicle and a motorcycle looking for a home where a party was being held. But they mistakenly turned into Monahan’s driveway shortly before 10 p.m.
Monahan took his 20-gauge shotgun and fired twice, the second shot striking Gillis in the neck. Walsh drove out of the driveway while his friends tried to call 911 but had trouble connecting because of poor reception in the area. By the time they got to safety and emergency workers arrived on scene, it was too late.
Monahan declined to speak at the sentencing hearing, the Times-Union said, prompting someone in the courtroom to shout, “Coward!”
“You were deceitful. You hid the truth. And you’ve never shown remorse,” Gillis’s father, Andrew Gillis, told Monahan. “That is what sealed your fate,” he said. “Our hope is that your actions will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
Monahan tried to convince the jury the shot that hit Gillis was an accident, that he tripped and accidentally fired, after intentionally firing a “warning shot” because he thought he was “under siege” by intruders.
Walsh disagreed. “We all know that this was not an accident,” he said when it was his turn to speak.
“I’ll never be able to forgive you for your actions — I wouldn’t even think about it,” Walsh said. “Words can’t describe how happy I am for the justice system, seeing this decision the way it is. But if it were my decision, you’d be under the jail.”
Michelini sentenced Monahan to 25 years to life in on the murder and reckless endangerment charges and a consecutive 1 1/2 to 4 years for evidence tampering.
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[Featured image: Kaylin Gillis/GoFundMe]
