A New York man has been charged with murder after authorities said he fatally shot a woman who was in a car that mistakenly pulled into his driveway.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Kaylin Gillis, 20, died after being shot Saturday night in Hebron, New York. The Sheriff’s Office said Gillis was a passenger in a car that pulled into the driveway of the home owned by Kevin Monahan.
Authorities said Monahan fired two shots at the vehicle, one of which struck Gillis.
Monahan has been charged with murder.
Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy told reporters Monday night that authorities received a 911 call reporting that Gillis had been shot. Murphy said the call came from Salem, New York, about five miles from Monahan’s Hebron residence.
Authorities then received reports of someone firing a gun at a residence in Hebron.
Another weekend of gun violence shatters communities throughout US
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States has seen more than 160 mass shootings in the first 16 weeks of 2023.
“We figured out that was the scene where the shots were fired from,” Murphy said. “The resident inside was not cooperative. He would not come out and talk to patrol so we had a bit of a situation.”
Murphy said it took over an hour of making contact with Monahan to get him to come out.
Murphy said that friends inside the car reported that they were looking for another friend’s house in the area. The sheriff added that three others were inside the car with Gillis at the time of the shooting.
“Unfortunately, they drove up his driveway,” Murphy said. “It is a rural area with dirt roads. There is not a lot of cellular service or any type of internet so they were basically looking for their friend’s house and got mistaken and drove up the driveway.”
Murphy added given the area, it is “easy to get lost.”
Murphy said he did not know of any interaction between those inside the car and Monahan.
“From all indications, she was an innocent young girl who was out with friends looking for another friend’s house,” Murphy said. “I know for a fact she comes from a good family, a very good family, I know them personally. She is a young girl taken way too young.”
Details of the incident surfaced on the same day authorities reported that a 16-year-old was shot after knocking on the wrong door at a Kansas City, Missouri, home. Ralph Yarl survived the shooting. The alleged shooter, Andrew D. Lester, has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
