Kaylin Gillis: Woman shot dead in New York state after friend pulled into wrong driveway

Kaylin Gillis was in the car with three friends when she was killed

A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the US after he allegedly shot and killed a 20-year-old woman as the car she was in mistakenly drove up the man's driveway.

Kaylin Gillis was with three other people in New York state on Saturday.

They accidentally drove into the driveway of Kevin Monahan in the town of Hebron, police say.

As the driver was leaving, Mr Monahan, 65, allegedly opened fire on the vehicle, hitting Ms Gillis.

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"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," Washington Country Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy told a news conference.

The area is rural, and the driveways are poorly lit at night. None of the group had exited the vehicle or attempted to enter Mr Monahan's house before he allegedly opened fire, Mr Murphy said.

"There's clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle," Sheriff Murphy said. "There's no reason for Mr Monahan to feel threatened."

The friends drove away from the house and attempted to call for help in a nearby town, but Ms Gillis was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Mr Monahan was "unco-operative with the investigation and refused to exit his residence to speak with police", the sheriff's office said in a news release.

An attorney for Mr Monahan, Kurt Mausert, told CNN he was unaware that the bullets he fired had hit someone and had no idea why police were on his property.

The arrival of the vehicles "certainly caused some level of alarm to an elderly gentleman who had an elderly wife", he told the New York Times, adding that his client "sincerely regrets this tragedy".

"When there's a tragedy and a victim, everyone wants a villain," he said. "But sometimes they're just tragedies and victims and there are no villains. And this is one of those times."

Kevin Monahan allegedly opened fire without warning

Hebron Town supervisor Brian Campbell told Northeast Public Radio that it's "very easy for people to get lost on back roads here".

"You don't know how many times I've been awakened early in the morning [by] people lost, run out of gas, over a ditch, you go tow them out, put them on their merry way. You never think of your own safety even," he said.

The type of bullet that killed Ms Gillis was a large lead slug fired from a 12-gauge shotgun, according to the Times-Union newspaper.

It is typically used to hunt big game, the newspaper reports.

Investigators have not said what weapon was used in the shooting.

In a statement sent to CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, Ms Gillis' family called her "a kind, beautiful soul and a ray of light to anyone who was lucky enough to know her".

They said the 20-year-old was an artist and a "Disney fanatic" who was looking forward to starting college in Florida so she could become a marine biologist.

"Our family will never be the same but we will be guided by Kaylin's positivity, optimism, and joy as we learn to live with her loss."

On Tuesday, the Schuylerville Central School District held a press conference where former school officials spoke about how much she will be grieved in the close-knit community.

Ms Gillis graduated in 2021, and two of her younger siblings attend school in the district.

A GoFundMe created to help Ms Gillis's family with funeral expenses had raised nearly $100,000 (£80,000) as of Tuesday.

Separately, a householder in the US state of Missouri was charged with shooting a teenager who rang the wrong doorbell while picking up his younger brothers.

Unlike in that case - where the victim is black and the alleged gunman is white - both Ms Gillis and Mr Monahan are white.