FORT EDWARD, N.Y.—A man who shot and killed a 20-year-old woman in upstate New York after the SUV she was riding in accidentally drove into a rural driveway was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison.
Kevin Monaghan (66) convicted of second-degree murder Kaylin Gillis passed away in April of last year. After she pulled into Monaghan’s long, winding driveway while looking for a party at her stranger’s home in the town of Hebron, she was separated from two cars and a motorcycle as she was about to leave. I was riding in a caravan.
Prosecutors on Friday asked the judge for a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, with additional time for tampering with a weapon. The defense asked for leniency. Monaghan declined the opportunity to speak.
“I think it’s important for people to know that it’s wrong to shoot someone for refusing to let them in their driveway,” Judge Adam Michelini said. Mr Michelini said that apart from the wider deterrent effect, it was important that Mr Monaghan remained behind bars rather than being free to harm more people.
Gillis’ death drew attention beyond upstate New York.That was a few days after the shooting 16 year old Ralf Jarl in Kansas City. Jarl, who is black, was attacked and injured by an 84-year-old white man who entered the wrong door to pick up his younger brothers.
The night Gillis died, her friends realized their mistake and turned around to see Monaghan fire a second shot, hitting Gillis in the neck as she sat in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s SUV. did.
Monaghan sustained a deadly shot It was an accident and the shotgun was defective. He also said he believed his home, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Albany, was “under siege” by intruders, and that she was scared of the group while her wife hid inside. He said he came out to fire a warning shot in an attempt to stop the police.
Prosecutors argued Monaghan was motivated by irrational anger at the trespasser.
After deliberating for less than two hours, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Monahan in January on charges of murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.
Gillis’ father, Andrew Gillis, described his daughter as a person who: I love animals and had a dream Become a marine biologist or a veterinarian.
“Every day we wake up to the harsh reality that she is no longer here. We will never see her beautiful face or hear her laugh,” Gillis told Monaghan. told the court Friday before the verdict was announced.
Her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, was behind the wheel of the SUV that night. “I can never forgive you,” he said to Monaghan, who looked on with a hard face.
