Woman, 20, shot, killed in Hebron; murder charge

Chronicle editor Mark Frost writes:


Kevin D. Monahan, 65, has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death Saturday night of Kaylin A. Gillis, 20, of Schuylerville.
Kevin Monahan, murder charge

In a somber media session Monday afternoon, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy detailed a tragedy that happened outside Mr. Monahan’s house on Patterson Hill Road in the Town of Hebron.

“This is a very sad case of some young adults who 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 it,” Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said. The Times-Union reported Tuesday that the weapon was a 12-gauge shotgun.

Sheriff Murphy vouched for Ms. Gillis and said he knows the family well. News reports said her father is a corrections officer at the Washington County jail. Mr. Monahan is being held at the Warren County jail.

Sheriff Murphy noted the area where the shooting occurred is rural and lacking in good cell phone service.

A follow-up press release said, “Through the preliminary investigation it was learned that the vehicle the victim was in mistakenly pulled into the driveway at the Patterson Hill Road address. The homeowner fired at least two shots, one of which struck the victim while she was a passenger in a vehicle.

Kayla Gillis, 20, of Schuylerville was shot and killed in the Town of Hebron after she and three friends pulled into the wrong driveway, said Sheriff Jeff Murphy.

“Through investigative efforts it was determined that the person who fired the shots was Kevin D. Monahan. Monahan was uncooperative with the investigation and refused to exit his residence to speak with police. He was later taken into custody with the assistance of the New York State Police Special Operation Response Team after several hours.”

The story has made national and even international news. Britain’s BBC carried it. A similar incident occurred in Kansas City, Mo. Ralph Yarl, a black teenager, was said to have rung a doorbell after mistaking a house. He was shot and critically injured. Andrew Lester, 84, who is white, was charged Monday with two felonies.

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