NY homeowner had stand-off with cops, showed ‘no remorse’ over Kaylin Gillis shooting: sheriff
The man charged with murder over the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis after the car she was drove up his upstate New York driveway was in an hours-long “stand-off” with cops — and allegedly showed “no remorse” when he was eventually arrested.
Kevin Monahan, 65, allegedly shot twice at the car Gillis and her friends were traveling in while trying to turn around and leave the driveway of his Hebron property on Saturday night. One bullet hit Gillis and she could not be saved by medics once they were able to get to her in the remote area.
Monahan, was uncooperative and refused to leave his home when deputies showed up in the wake of the shooting, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said at a Monday news conference.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, the sheriff revealed Monahan had already obtained a lawyer by the time he emerged from his home to turn himself over.
“[He], quite frankly, has not shown any remorse in this case,” Murphy said, adding that the suspect has yet to make a statement about the shooting.
Monahan was eventually cuffed after the New York State Police Special Operation Response Team were called in to assist, the sheriff said. He has since been charged with second-degree murder.
The suspect’s attorney, Kurt Mauser, rejected any notion of a standoff — insisting his client didn’t even know the bullets he’d fired had struck anyone.
“This was not a standoff,” the attorney said. “This was my client and I not knowing what was going on in terms of the charges that were pending.”
Mauser also told CNN he had been told by Monahan there were mulitple vehicles which pulled into his driveway, including a motorcycle, and that they were “revving engines [and] coming up the driveway at a high rate of speed.”
He claimed this “created an atmosphere and a fear that there was menace going on,” for Monahan.
Mauser said he was informed of Gillis’ death and the charge his client was facing after he made contact with authorities. It was then he made arrangements for Monahan to surrender, the attorney said.
Monahan is accused of firing from his porch after the car carrying Gillis and her three pals turned into his driveway at about 10 p.m., one of which struck the 20-year-old as the car she was in was on its way to exit the property, according to the sheriff.
The friends fled the property and called 911 from the neighboring town of Salem, but Gillis was already dead by the time help arrived.
The sheriff previously said Monahan had no reason to open fire on the vehicle – noting no one had exited the car in the driveway before the shots rang out.
“There’s clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle,” Murphy said, adding that it was “easy to get lost” in the rural area. “There’s no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.”
