The man who infamously shot a 20-year-old woman dead after an SUV mistakenly pulled into the driveway of his New York home last year was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison—a sentence that came just minutes after his victim’s family lambasted him as a “coward” in court.
Kevin Monahan, 65, was convicted in January of second-degree murder for the slaying of Kaylin Gillis, who was shot in the neck in April as she sat in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car.
The killing grabbed national headlines and, as Gillis’ family and prosecutors pointed out in court Friday, Monahan never publicly showed remorse for the slaying.
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“Our entire family has been shattered forever, scarred by this tragedy,” said the victim’s father, Andrew Gillis, reported the Albany Times Union. “You were deceitful. You hid the truth and you never showed remorse.”
The father asked that a judge in Washington County, which is just north of Albany, sentence Monahan to the maximum sentence possible. He got just that.
During the trial, Monahan testified that he believed he was “under siege” and facing an “invasion” from intruders when a Ford Explorer pulled into his driveway. He said that led him to fire a warning shot with his shotgun to start “a dialogue,” which was followed by an accidental second shot that struck Gillis after he tripped on nails that were protruding from his front deck.
A jury didn’t buy that explanation, and he was convicted on Jan. 24.
Gillis’ boyfriend, Blake Walsh, told NBC News after the slaying that there was no cell service in the area of Monahan’s home. They were lost, he said, and were backing out of the driveway when the shots were fired.
Walsh said he had to drive five miles in terror as his girlfriend bled out next to him. Once they reached a location with cell service, he said they called 911, but it ultimately proved to be too late for Gillis. A GoFundMe for her family raised nearly $150,000.
Gillis’ family hosted a press conference days after her death, blasting Monahan for what they described as his indifference to human life. There, her father said said he hoped Monahan “dies in jail.”
Kaylin Gillis smiles in an undated photo released by her family.
GoFundMeMonahan declined to speak in court Friday ahead of his sentencing. The Times Union reported that a loved one of Gillis called out “coward” when his attorneys said he wouldn’t speak.
Christian Morris, a prosecutor, said Monahan deserved no mercy because he never accepted responsibility for the slaying. Had Monahan acknowledged it, only then should he be “in the running” for mercy from a judge in sentencing, Morris said.
Reporters at Friday’s hearing said the announcement of Monahan’s sentencing, the maximum, was met with tears and cheers from those attending.
“Every person out there needs to know that you can’t murder someone because they accidentally pulled into your driveway,” Morris said Friday.
