Woman Fatally Shot By NY Homeowner After Pulling Into Wrong Driveway

On Monday, New York police reported that a 20-year-old woman was shot by a homeowner after the car she was riding in drove to the wrong address.

According to Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy, Kaylin Gillis and three of her friends accidentally pulled up to Kevin Monahan’s home in rural Hebron, New York, while looking for the home of another friend.

Once the women realized they had pulled up to the wrong home, Monahan walked out onto his porch and fired two rounds, one of which hit Gillis.

The women attempted to call 911 but had no signal. They drove 5 miles to Salem, where emergency responders attempted CPR, but Gillis was pronounced dead.

According to the sheriff, Monahan is being held at the Warren County Jail and has been charged with second-degree murder.

The sheriff said that Monahan was initially reluctant to leave his home for several hours and refused to provide any information.

Murphy said the case was a “very sad” incident involving an “innocent young woman.”

“There was clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle. There was no reason for Monahan to feel threatened,” he said.

He added that “he wasn’t aware of any interaction between the passengers and Monahan. No one exited the vehicle, which was only in the driveway for a very short time,” he said.

According to the 2020 census, 1,786 people were living1,786 people living in Hebron. So it’s not uncommon for a driver to pull into the wrong driveway in the rural area.

“It’s a very rural area. There’s dirt roads. There’s not a lot of cell service or any type of internet,” the sheriff said.

On the other hand, Kurt Mausert, Monahan’s attorney, asserted that the sheriff’s description of what transpired in the driveway and his portrayal of his client as resistant are false.

According to Mausert, his client had been scared when he pulled the trigger.

“There were errors; there were misunderstandings that culminated in a tragedy. But the fact that we have a victim in a tragedy does not mean there’s a villain. Villain, to me, requires bad intent, and my client, I don’t believe – the facts will show – that he had bad intent,” he said.

This incident occurred two days after 84-year-old Andrew Lester fired shots at 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who mistakenly went to Lester’s house to pick up his twin siblings from a friend’s house. Yarl, who is black, was struck twice in the incident, but officials were slow to file charges. On Monday, Lester was finally hit with two felony charges for assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Despite the racial component in the case, Lester, who is white, may not face hate crime charges, as prosecutors say the original two felony charges carry longer possible sentences.