A Washington court found a man from upstate New York guilty on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, of second-degree murder. According to Katherine Thompson, the court clerk, the defendant, Kevin Monahan, fatally shot a young woman riding in a car that mistakenly drove up his driveway.
The documents stated that on the night of April 15, 2023, Monahan fired two shots with a 20-gauge shotgun after a car drove up his driveway. One of the shots struck a vehicle carrying 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis and hit her in the neck. Consequently, she died soon after.
Before the tragic incident, Ms. Gillis and six friends were trying to find a friend’s house. They were allegedly going for a Saturday night party when they drove up Monahan’s half-mile-long driveway in Hebron, N.Y. During the two-week trial, Monahan, 66, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He testified that the fatal shot was an accident. Furthermore, Monahan claimed that the gun spontaneously fired after he tripped on his porch. Monahan admitted he initially fired a warning shot. However, it was to scare off a caravan of two cars and a motorcycle that arrived at his house.
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Hence, his lawyers described him as “an old man” who was asleep and terrified. Monahan’s lawyers also claimed that he thought “a group of marauders” came to attack him and his wife, Jinx. However, after about two hours of deliberations, the court convicted him of all charges.
Prosecutors argued that Monahan acted recklessly when the teens used his driveway to turn their vehicles. However, the defense argued it was a terrible accident. District Attorney Tony Jordan seeks a maximum sentence of 25 years to life when Monahan’s sentence starts on March 1.
Consequently, defense attorney Kurt Mausert said the verdict disappointed his client. Mausert said the trial was “ripe with appellate issues,” and he planned an appeal. “He truly believes what happened was an accident,” Mausert said of his client.
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Mausert further reiterated Monahan’s claims, saying, “He stumbled and fell, and the shotgun went off by accident.” Furthermore, the defense attorney spoke about Gillis’ death. He said, “You got a beautiful 20-year-old girl who, of no fault of her own, is dead.”
“There’s no way to look at this case other than a horrible tragedy,” Mausert added. “But an accident has turned into depraved indifference, and that’s a tragedy also.” However, the prosecutors expressed doubts about the level of danger Monahan felt that night.
They noted that the vehicles were turning around to leave. In addition, the prosecutors expressed deep skepticism about his argument. They said Monahan acted with hatred and callous disregard for the people who stumbled onto his property.
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“Kevin Monahan did not act out of fear,” said Christian P. Morris, the first assistant district attorney for Washington County. Morris said while speaking to the jury, “He acted out of a baser emotion: He acted out of anger.” In addition, Morris noted that Monahan stood on an elevated porch during the incident.
He also said the defendant was more than 20 feet above the vehicles, about 80 feet away. “There was no threat; there were no marauding raiders,” Morris concluded. “These were lost kids.” Following the jury’s decision, the judge, Adam D. Michelini, will issue his sentence on March 1, 2024.
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