A 20-year-old woman looking for a friend’s house in upstate New York was fatally shot by a homeowner after the car she was riding in went to the wrong address, authorities said Monday.
Kaylin Gillis was in a car with three other people Saturday night in the rural town of Hebron when the group mistakenly turned onto the property of Kevin Monahan, 65.
“While they were leaving the residence once they determined that they were at the wrong house, the subject came out on his porch for whatever reason and fired two shots, one of which struck the vehicle that Kaylin was in,” Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said during a news conference Monday.
The group then drove to the neighboring town of Salem, about 50 miles northeast of Albany near the Vermont state line, and called 911, according to Murphy. Emergency crews arrived and performed CPR but Gillis was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Monahan was later arrested and has been charged with second-degree murder. It wasn’t clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
“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 discharge,” Murphy said.
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‘No reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened’
When officers arrived at Monahan’s house to investigate the shooting, he refused to come out and was uncooperative, Murphy said.
Authorities spoke with him through a 911 dispatcher and in person for more than an hour before he was taken into custody, according to Murphy. Monahan was then booked into Warren County Jail and is expected to make a court appearance.
Murphy noted that the shooting took place in a “very rural area” with limited cell phone service and that it is an easy area to get lost in. He said the group had been in Monahan’s driveway for just a short time before they “realized their mistake.”
Murphy added that Gillis, who lived in Schuylerville, “was an innocent young girl who was out with friends looking for another friend’s house.”
“There was clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle,” Murphy said. “There was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.”
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Recent home shooting cases
The Hebron, New York, shooting occurred days after 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and wounded in Kansas City, Missouri, after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers.
A local prosecutor announced Monday that an 85-year-old white man who shot the Black teen twice at his front door was charged with armed assault. Yarl, who is now recovering at home after being released Sunday from the hospital, had initially been hospitalized in critical condition.
The incident also follows the fatal shooting of a New Mexico homeowner after police responded to the wrong house for a domestic violence call.
Recently released body camera footage shows unidentified Farmington Police officers immediately shooting Robert Dotson, 52, after he opened the door with a gun. The incident is under investigation and the three officers were put on paid administrative leave.
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Jeanine Santucci, and Jessica Onsurez, USA TODAY; The Associated Press