A 20-year-old woman is dead after she and three others accidentally pulled into the wrong driveway of a home in rural upstate New York while looking for a friend’s house Saturday night.
The young woman, who has been identified as Kaylin Gillis, was killed after the homeowner, identified as Kevin Monahan, “fired at least two shots” at the vehicle she was in from his front porch.
After the shots were fired Kaylin and the others drove away to find cell service. They were located about five miles away in the town of Salem. When first responders arrived they began administering CPR, but Kaylin was pronounced dead at the scene.
News of Kaylin’s death, on April 15, came days after Ralph Yarl was shot at for accidentally ringing the wrong doorbell while picking up his younger siblings in Kansas City, Missouri.
According to CNN, no words were exchanged between Ralph and the suspect, Andrew Lester, who has since been charged with two felony charges.
The 16-year-old was shot twice and has since been released from the hospital.
The recent shootings have reignited the debate over the controversial stand your ground laws.
During a press conference on Monday, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy explained how Kaylin and the three others in the vehicle were looking for a friend’s house in the rural town of Hebron, New York when they pulled into Monahan’s driveway “in error”.
“It’s a very rural area, it’s dirt roads, there’s not a lot of cellular services or any type of internet,” Murphy said.
READ MORE:
- Black teen shot by homeowner after ringing wrong doorbell while trying to pick up younger siblings
- Ralph Yarl released from hospital to continue his recovery at home
“This is a very sad case of some young adults that were looking for a friend’s house and ended up at this man’s house who decided to come out with a firearm and discharged.”
He added that the initial investigation does not indicate any interaction took place between Monahan and anyone in the vehicle.
“There was clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle. There was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened,” Murphy said.
When police arrived at Monahan’s house he was “uncooperative” and “refused to exit his residence to speak with police”.
After several hours he was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder in connection with Kaylin’s death. According to his lawyer, Monahan pleaded not guilty and claims he meant no harm when he fired those two shots.
Kaylin Gillis boyfriend
Kaylin was in a vehicle with her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, as they pulled into the driveway of what they thought was their friend’s house for a party.
Blake was the person who was driving the vehicle on the tragic night and on April 18, he finally spoke out in a phone interview with NBC News.
”We thought we were at the right address. We didn’t have any cell service to figure it out. As soon as we figured it out that we were at the wrong location, we started to leave, and that’s when everything happened,” he said.
“I tried to step on the gas as fast as I could, and that’s when the fatal shot came.”
Blake Walsh also opened up about his relationship with Kaylin Gillis. His beloved girlfriend possessed the talent of an artist, crafting illustrations of both fictional and real-life characters.
As mentioned in her obituary, Kaylin had a fondness for tacos, cheeseburgers, and ice cream. Her family held great significance in her life, and she made it a point to attend Sunday Dinners at Mi Mi’s without fail.
Blake and Kaylin were high school sweethearts who had been in love for years.
According to Blake, he wanted to marry Kaylin.
“I had high hopes, and I had plans. I didn’t want to be with anybody else, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” he said.
“I want the world to know how good of a person she really was and how much she impacted everybody who had the fortunate opportunity to be in her life,” Walsh added.
“I want to believe it was instant. I’m hoping it was. I’m praying it was,” Walsh said according to NBC, recalling the moment Kaylin was shot.
What happened to talking with people? Why is everyone so trigger-happy? This is completely unacceptable
