On April 15, 2023, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot and killed in

Hebron, New York Hebron is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 1,773 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the same-named community in Connecticut. Geogra ...

, after the car in which she was traveling turned onto the wrong driveway. The alleged shooter, Kevin D. Monahan, was arrested after a standoff and taken into custody, where he was charged with second-degree murder. The shooting was part of a series of shootings across the U.S. that occurred in the same week, including the

shooting of Ralph Yarl On April 13, 2023, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old black teenager, was shot twice and wounded after ringing the doorbell to the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri. Yarl was attempting to pick up his twin brothers and ended up at the wrong address, ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, after he mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell, and the shooting of two cheerleaders in

Elgin, Texas Elgin ( ) is a city in Bastrop County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,784 at the 2020 census. Elgin is also known as the Sausage Capital of Texas and the Brick Capital of the Southwest, due to the presence of three operating bri ...

, after they entered the wrong car.Timothy Bella
What we know about who shot Ralph Yarl, Kaylin Gillis and Payton Washington
''Washington Post'' (April 20, 2023).

Incident

Kaylin Gillis was killed on April 15, 2023, just before 10 p.m., in Washington County, an

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

county that borders

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. Gillis and her friends were looking for a friend's house. Their vehicle was being driven by her boyfriend. Their car and another vehicle mistakenly pulled into the driveway of Kevin D. Monahan, who lived on a ridgetop plot in the rural town of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

, on Patterson Hill Road. After turning into the wrong driveway, the group realized they had the wrong address, and began to back the vehicle out of the driveway to leave. Gillis was one of four people in the last car to pull away. As the group was leaving, Monahan exited his home and fired two shots at the vehicle using a 20-gauge

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

. Gillis was struck in the neck.Wendy Liberatore
Suspect in fatal driveway shooting suggested hunters might be to blame
''Albany Times-Union'' (May 25, 2023). Unable to get mobile phone reception in Hebron, the group drove toward the neighboring town of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, where they were able to reach

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

. Gillis died before medical help could arrive. After police arrived at Monahan's home, he initially refused to surrender to police officers and state troopers. During an hour-long standoff, he was on the phone with a police dispatcher and with his attorney before eventually surrendering. Eight police body-worn cameras captured his encounter with police. According to papers filed in Washington County Court, Monahan had initially claimed to police that he had been "in bed since 8:30 p.m." and suggested that hunters had been responsible for killing.

Victim

Gillis grew up in Schuylerville, New York, and graduated from

Schuylerville High School Schuylerville High School is located in Schuylerville, New York (state), New York. The school teams are known as the Black Horses. The school colors are orange and black. It is a high school serving grades K-12. Schuylerville is a member of the N ...

in 2021.

Defendant

Kevin D. Monahan (born October 28, 1957) was charged in the killing. He was born and raised in

Salem, New York Salem is a town in eastern Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,702 at the 2000 census. The town of Salem contains a hamlet also named Salem, formerly ...

. Long-time neighbors described him as frequently hostile, sour, and sometimes aggressive. He had no criminal record in New York State but was arrested and charged in

with aggravated assault with a weapon in 2001. That charge was later dismissed.

Prosecution

After his arrest, Monahan was briefly held at Washington County Correctional Facility in Fort Edward, where Gillis's father is a correctional officer, before being taken away to the Warren County Jail in Lake George. He was arraigned in Washington County Court on April 16, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. He was denied bail at a hearing the next day, with the prosecuting attorney saying that Monahan's reputation as "confrontational and hot-tempered" in addition to the seriousness of the crime; weighed in favor of pretrial detention. A new indictment was issued in May 2023; in addition to second-degree murder, he now faces charges of reckless endangerment, and tampering with evidence. The murder charge was also reduced from "intentional murder" to "reckless depraved indifference murder." The court again denied his request for a bond.

Jury selection Jury selection is the selection of the people who will serve on a jury during a jury trial. The group of potential jurors (the "jury pool", also known as the ''venire'') is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. ...

for the trial was set to begin in September 2023, but following further procedural delays was postponed until October 30. On October 25, the presiding judge granted a defense request for additional time to seek expert analysis of certain evidence. The court rescheduled the trial start date for January 8, 2024. https://www.dailygazette.com/news/driveway-shooting-gillis/article_1855474e-7759-11ee-97dd-cfb92f1cabc2.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillis, Kaylin 2023 in New York (state) April 2023 crimes in the United States 2020s crimes in New York (state) Deaths by firearm in New York (state) Washington County, New York