“Kaylin got her justice,” the Gillis family said in a statement. “While we would trade anything to bring Kaylin back, this was the best possible outcome.”
A New York man was found guilty in the murder of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis, who mistakenly drove into his driveway. It took the jury less than two hours to reach a verdict.
Kevin Monahan, 66, appeared to show no emotion when he learned his fate.
“Kaylin got her justice,” the Gillis family said in a statement. “While we would trade anything to bring Kaylin back, this was the best possible outcome.”
Gillis was with friends when they drove up Monahan's private driveway in upstate New York looking for another house. When they realized their mistake, they turned around and were leaving when Monahan started shooting from his porch.
Gillis was shot in the neck and killed.
Monahan testified he thought the three vehicles pulling up his driveway at night were home invaders. He claimed his shotgun fired accidentally when he stood on a nail on his porch and dropped the weapon.
“No one was on that deck except Mr. Monahan. He was the only one who can tell us what happened,” defense attorney Kurt Mausert tells Inside Edition. “The real issue here is the firearm. Long guns don’t have the kind of internal safeties that handguns have.”
Prosecutors say the jury saw through Monahan's claims that it was an accident.
“It's relief for the Gillis family to help them continue their process of healing, to know that there is a community that believes in their justice,” District Attorney Tony Jordan says.
Monahan will be sentenced on March 1. He faces 25 years to life in prison.
