New York man indicted on murder charge after 20-year-old woman was shot and killed when car turned in wrong driveway
By Brynn Gingras and Emma Tucker, CNN
(CNN) — A man accused of shooting and killing a woman who was a passenger in a car that mistakenly drove up his driveway in rural New York has been indicted on a murder charge.
Kevin Monahan, 65, has been charged with murder in the second degree, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence, according to the indictment.
The court told CNN Monahan was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. CNN has reached out to Monahan’s attorney for comment.
Monahan is accused of shooting at a vehicle full of passengers, including 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis, when they accidentally turned into his driveway while looking for a friend’s house last month in Washington County, roughly 55 miles north of Albany.
Gillis died a short time later.
Blake Walsh, Gillis’ boyfriend, said he was driving the car the night they drove up the wrong driveway. He told NBC in a phone interview that he, his late girlfriend and two friends were looking for a party. Four friends were traveling in another vehicle and also went up the wrong driveway.
“We thought we were at the right address,” Walsh told NBC. “We didn’t have any cell service to figure it out. As soon as we figured out that we were at the wrong location, we started to leave, and that’s when everything happened.”
A judge remanded Monahan back to police custody at a bail hearing last month. Prosecutors argued Monahan’s confrontational and compulsive temperament should be taken into consideration and requested Monahan be returned to police custody without bail, CNN previously reported.
Monahan’s attorney, Kurt Mausert, said at the hearing his client should have been given pretrial release because he had never been arrested or convicted in New York state and has been a local resident for more than 30 years.
The attorney has disputed the sheriff’s description of events and has said there were multiple vehicles revving their engines and coming up Monahan’s driveway at “a high rate of speed.”
The victim’s father, Andy Gillis, has called for justice and described his daughter as a “smart, kind, loving” young woman who had dreams of becoming a marine biologist or veterinarian.
“For this man to sit on his porch and fire at a car with no threat is just … (it) angers me so badly, and I just hope to God that he dies in jail,” Gillis said after Monahan’s April bail hearing. “Kaylin deserves justice.”
Monahan is expected to return to court on July 28. His trial is expected to start in September.
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CNN’s Laura Ly and Mark Morales contributed to this report.
