Global Courant 2023-04-18 20:20:38
A New York man was charged with fatally shooting a 20-year-old woman on Saturday after her boyfriend drove into the driveway of a house they mistakenly believed belonged to another friend, authorities said.
Kevin Monahan, 65, allegedly fired at the car after the group of four friends realized they had entered the wrong driveway and exited the home in Hebron, about 50 miles north of Albany, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy told reporters on Monday.
Kaylin Gillis was pronounced dead several miles southeast of the home, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The group had driven to the location after firing at the car, Murphy said.
Kaylin Gillis.through GoFundMe
Monahan is charged with manslaughter and was being held at the Warren County Jail, Murphy said.
“This is a very sad case of some young adults who were looking for a friend’s house and ended up with this man,” Murphy said.
“She was a young girl who was taken way too young,” he added.
The friends were in the driveway for a short time when, Murphy claimed, Monahan fired two shots from the front porch of his house.
One of the bullets hit the car, he said.
Murphy said there appeared to be no interaction between the group and Monahan before the shots were fired.
There was “obviously no threat” from anyone in the car, he added.
Authorities were made aware of the shooting shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, when Gillis’ friends called 911 after Monahan allegedly opened fire, Murphy said.
The area where Gillis was shot is rural, with no cellphone or internet, and the friends had driven a few miles away to call 911, Murphy said.
Monahan, who described Murphy as a laborer and a longtime resident of the home, was uncooperative when deputies responded, the sheriff said.
A motive remained unclear, Murphy said, and Monahan said nothing to authorities about why he might have opened fire.
It is unclear if Monahan has an attorney speaking on his behalf.
Alec Hernandez contributed.
