ALBANY, USA: An American man who shot and killed a 20-year-old woman who mistakenly pulled into his rural driveway has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Kevin Monahan shot Kaylin Gillis in the neck as she and her friends drove up his driveway in New York while trying to find a party at a different address. The 66-year-old man was found guilty of second-degree murder in January.
The prosecutor had asked for a maximum of 25 years in prison.
A jury deliberated for just under two hours in January and found Monahan guilty of murder, in addition to reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.
Monahan declined the opportunity to speak at Friday’s sentencing. According to the media reports, as he was leaving, someone in the gallery shouted at him “coward”.
I think it’s important that people know that it’s wrong to shoot someone or kill someone for turning down others’ driveway, Judge Adam Michelini said.
Ms Gillis and her friends were looking for another party address on Saturday night when they ended up onto Monahan’s long, curving driveway on a Saturday night in the small town of Hebron, about 55 miles north-east of Albany.
Cell phone reception is difficult in this area.
Monahan said he thought he too was “surrounded” by the intruders, and just as the group realized their mistake and turned back, Monahan came out of the house and fired from the balcony.
Gillis was shot dead a second time while sitting in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s SUV, but Gillis later told Monahan that she would “never forgive him.”
Monaghan’s attorney argued before the court that the shooting was an accident.
