New York man sentenced to 25 years to life for killing Kaylin Gillis who turned up in his driveway by accident while looking for another house

• Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted over the April 2023 shooting of Kaylin Gillis
• He has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after the defense asked for leniency 
• Gillis’ boyfriend says he will ‘never be able to forgive’ Monahan for killing her 

A man who shot dead a young woman who turned up in his rural driveway in upstate New York by accident has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death last April of Kaylin Gillis, 20.

She was riding in a convoy of two cars and a motorcycle that was trying to leave after pulling into Monahan’s long, winding driveway while looking for a party at another person’s house in the town of Hebron.

Prosecutors asked the judge on Friday for the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, with additional time for tampering with the murder weapon.

Monahan testified in his own defense that he tripped when he fired the fatal shot, after previously firing a warning shot. Prosecutors countered that he ‘acted out of anger’

Monahan is standing trial over the April 2023 fatal shooting of Kaylin Gillis, 20, who was shot in the neck after a car she was riding in accidentally drove down the gunman’s driveway

Gillis (right) had been riding in the car with her boyfriend and two friends when they got lost down Monahan’s winding dirt road. He says he will ‘never be able to forgive’ Monahan for killing her

The defense asked for leniency. Monahan declined an opportunity to speak.

‘I think it’s important for people to know that it’s not ok to shoot people and have them killed for turning down your driveway,’ Judge Adam Michelini said.

Apart from the wider deterrent effect, Michelini said it’s important that Monahan remain behind bars rather than be free to harm more people.

On the night of Gillis’ death, the group of friends had realized their error and had turned around when Monahan fired a second shot, striking Gillis in the neck as she sat in the front passenger seat of an SUV driven by her boyfriend.

Monahan maintained the fatal shot was an accident and that the shotgun was defective. He also said he believed the house about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Albany was ‘under siege’ by intruders, and said he came out to fire a warning shot to try to scare the group away while his wife hid inside.

Prosecutors argued that Monahan was motivated by an irrational rage toward trespassers.

The father of Gilis previously told of his grief at losing his daughter so suddenly, and said he hopes Monahan ‘dies in jail’

A NYS Court Police officer to holds Kevin Monahan’s shotgun during summations in Monahan’s murder trial

According to Zillow, Kevin Monahan’s home was built in 2004 and is estimated to cost $310,000, it is only accessible through an unpaved road

Kaylin Gillis’ father Andrew addressed the media after Monahan’s first court appearance in April, where he said he hoped the shooter ‘dies in jail’

A jury deliberated for less then two hours before returning guilty verdicts in January against Monahan for murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.

Gillis’ father, Andrew Gillis, has described his daughter as someone who loved animals and had dreams of becoming a marine biologist or a veterinarian.

‘Every day we wake up to the harsh reality that that she´s no longer here. We will never see her beautiful face, hear her laughter,’ Gillis said in court Friday before Monahan’s sentence was announced.

Her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, was behind the wheel of the SUV that night. ‘I will never be able to forgive you,’ he told Monahan, who looked on with a stony face.

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