A lawyer for an upstate New York man accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old woman who was with a group of friends after accidentally veering into a backcountry driveway has argued in his murder trial that a defective gun was involved. He claimed it was an accident. It started on Thursday.
Kevin Monahan, 66, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kaylin Gillis, who got lost on her way to someone else's house after being out with friends on a Saturday night last April. It was done.
The group's two cars and a motorcycle accidentally entered a long dirt driveway in Monaghan near the Vermont border. The caravan realized their mistake and turned back. But Monahan is accused by authorities of coming out onto his porch and firing two shots from a shotgun, the second of which struck Gillis in the neck.
New York woman dies after being shot while driving to wrong address
In their opening statements, prosecutors and defense attorneys gave very different accounts of how those few minutes unfolded.
Defendant Kevin Monahan (center) is surrounded by his defense attorneys during opening statements in his murder trial at the Washington County Courthouse in Fort Edward, New York, on January 11, 2024. Monahan is accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old woman. He was with a group of his friends and we accidentally pulled into his driveway. (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via AP, Pool)
Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris said Monahan recklessly caused Gillis' death and later provided misleading information about the shooting. He said a group of young friends, mostly teenagers, realized their mistake and turned back. However, the second bullet hit a Ford Explorer driven by Gillis' boyfriend. She was struck while sitting in her passenger seat.
“There's a lot of commotion in the car. There's panic right now,” Morris said of the shooting.
Defense barrister Arthur Frost said Mr Monaghan was an elderly man who was frightened by strangers coming to his remote home late at night. His lawyer said Monaghan gave his wife a revolver before hiding in a closet and then venturing out onto the balcony.
New York woman shot dead by homeowner after driving into driveway
Monaghan fired a warning shot into the air and watched the vehicle leave, Frost said.
“And he was walking, he was looking, he tripped, he hit the gun, and the gun went off,” Frost told jurors.
Frost said police examined the gun and found it to be defective because it fired once when it fell.
“This was a terrible accident. Someone should have noticed by now,” Frost said.
Gillis' friends found cell phone signal several miles away and called for help. A 911 call played during the trial showed dispatchers administering CPR to the panicked friends as they waited for help to arrive. However, her paramedics were unable to save her.
Gillis' father and other supporters appeared at Thursday's trial. Andrew Gillis said his daughter loved animals and had dreams of becoming a marine biologist or veterinarian.
The young woman's death resonated beyond the largely rural area about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Albany. Gillis died days after a teenage boy was shot and wounded in Kansas City, Missouri, after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger siblings.
Publicity complicated jury selection this week. Court officials and trial attorneys spent three days narrowing down the pool of potential jurors, and selected the 12-member panel and four alternates on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Morris previously described Mr Monaghan as “confrontational and short-tempered”. After the shooting, neighbors said Monaghan had become increasingly distressed over the years about people accidentally driving onto his property.
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Morris said Thursday that Monahan did not call 911 on the night of the shooting until police came to his home for a noise complaint, and that a hunter with a dog in the area may have called 911 afterward. suggested.
According to a 911 call played in court, Monaghan told the dispatcher he hadn't heard anything.
“He kept saying he wanted to go back to bed,” Morris said.
Monaghan's wife, Jinx Monaghan, testified that she did not see the incident from her hiding place, and that the couple talked afterwards about how scared they were.
Her testimony was scheduled to continue Friday.
Monaghan, wearing a jacket and tie, listened to his opening statement from the defense bench. He was also charged with reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence. He has been in prison since April.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
