On the evening of April 15, 2023, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was a passenger in an SUV that turned into the long, winding driveway of 66-year-old Kevin Monahan in rural Hebron, New York. As the group realized the mistake and began to turn around, Monahan came out of his house and fired two shots from a 20-gauge shotgun. One round struck Gillis in the neck; she was pronounced dead at the scene after friends drove to a nearby town to reach emergency services.

Police say Monahan initially refused to come outside, prompting a standoff before he was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder. At trial prosecutors portrayed his actions as driven by an irrational rage toward trespassers; the defense described the fatal shot as an accidental discharge from a defective gun and said Monahan thought his home was under siege. A friend who was in the car testified the gun was pointed at them.

A jury convicted Monahan of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, and tampering with physical evidence in January 2024; he was sentenced to 25 years to life on March 1, 2024. Family and friends remembered Gillis as kind and loving, with plans to study marine biology or veterinary medicine. Does anyone have information about Kaylin’s final hours or the driveway where the shooting occurred?