An upstate New York homeowner was found guilty Tuesday of fatally shooting a young woman who accidentally pulled into his driveway last spring.
Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted of second-degree murder after less than an hour of jury deliberation following a two week trial over the slaying of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis.
Gillis and her friends were in an SUV that accidentally drove into Monahan’s rural driveway in Hebron while looking for another house on April 15.
Monahan stepped onto his porch with a 12-gauge shotgun and unloaded two shots at the vehicle, striking Gillis — who was seated in the passenger seat — in the neck.
Gillis’ boyfriend was behind the wheel of the SUV, and was in the process of pulling out of Monahan’s driveway when the homeowner opened fire.
Gillis was dead by the time first responders reached her. The home they were looking for was just a half-mile up the road.
Throughout the trial, Monahan argued the second shot was the result of his weapon malfunctioning, and that he had no intention of firing the fatal round.
“I didn’t mean to shoot the second shot... the gun went off,” Monahan testified, claiming he thought his house was “under siege” by a caravan of marauders when Gillis pulled in, and so fired a warning shot to ward the group off.
He claimed to have then tripped on nails protruding from his deck and dropped his gun, causing it to go off and strike Gillis when it fell to the ground.
Prosecutors presented a much different picture of the man, who was described by arresting officers as showing “no remorse” for what he’d done.
“He acted out of anger. That’s the only thing that can be inferred from shooting at people within 90 seconds of being on his property,” Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris said during his closing arguments on Tuesday.
“He grabbed his shotgun and intended to make them leave as fast as possible and he didn’t care if they were hurt or killed.”
Monahan had a reputation for explosive anger, neighbors told The Post after the killing.
“He had a short fuse. There was never any doubt he had a short fuse. I think he was a bit of a narcissist,” neighbor Adam Matthews said in the spring.
“He could do no wrong, but everybody else didn’t know jack s—t,” Matthews said, explaining Manahan was particularly touchy about people mistaking his driveway for a road.
With Post wires