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WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.Y. (TCD) — A jury convicted a 66-year-old man of murder for fatally shooting a 20-year-old who was in a car that pulled into his driveway by accident.
WTEN-TV reports Kevin Monahan was found guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree reckless endangerment, and tampering with evidence on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in connection with the shooting death of Kaylin Gillis. The jury reportedly deliberated for about two hours.
On the evening of April 15, 2023, Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a shots fired call on Cemetery Road in Salem and found Gillis suffering from a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputies received another call from Patterson Hill Road in Hebron and learned that’s where the shooting took place. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy there isn’t much cell service in the area, so Gillis and her friends “were looking for the friend’s house and mistakenly drove up this driveway.”
Gillis and her friends realized they weren’t in the right place. As they were leaving, Monahan walked out of his house and fired two shots, one of which hit the car Gillis was in. Her friends drove to the Cemetery Road location, where they found service and called 911.
Murphy said Monahan was not cooperating with authorities when they arrived at his house.
According to the Albany Times-Union, Gillis’ boyfriend, Blake Walsh, was driving and there were two other people in the car with them. She was reportedly in the front seat and was struck in the neck with a bullet fired from a 20-gauge pump-action shotgun.
Monahan’s trial lasted three weeks. The Albany Times-Union reports the jury was given the option to convict him of manslaughter. Monahan’s defense filed a motion for the jury to deliberate on criminally negligent homicide, but the judge denied the request.
Monahan testified at his trial and reportedly said the first shot was a warning, but the second went off because he tripped on nails and hit the gun against the porch, which caused it to fire.
His attorney, Arthur Frost, reportedly said during closing arguments, “You know he didn’t do this on purpose.”
He also said Monahan “didn’t want to shoot anyone.”
The Associated Press reports Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris argued during his closing statement, “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.”
Monahan faces 25 years to life in prison and will be sentenced in March.
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