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18th April 2023
09:12am BST
A 20-year-old woman who was inside a car that pulled into the wrong driveway was shot dead by the homeowner who opened fire from his porch.
Kaylin Gillis, and three friends, were headed to a home in rural Washington County on Saturday when they accidentally entered Kevin Monahan's driveway in Hebron, update New York.
According to Washington County Sheriff's Office, Monahan fired two shots, with one hitting Gillis who will still inside the vehicle.
Monahan has been charged with second-degree murder.
Sheriff Jeff Murphy on Monday that the incident was a "very sad case", explaining that the group were "looking for a friend's house and ended up at this man's house".
Murphy said the friends did not initially realise they were at the wrong address, but had started to pull out when the homeowner allegedly began shooting.
Due to the rural location, the friends were not immediately able to reach 911, and had to drive miles to a nearby town to make the call.
Murphy said Monahan was "uncooperative" with officers at the scene, who took an hour to take him into custody.
He added that police did not think Monahan had any reason to believe he was in danger, "to feel threatened, especially as it appears the vehicles were leaving at the time".
Murphy said Gillis was a "good" person.
"I know for a fact that she comes from a good family. A very good family and I know them personally and she's young girl that was taken way too young."
Friends remembered Gillis as a gentle soul who loved animals.
"Kaylin Gillis, you will be greatly missed," Chuchay Stark wrote in a Facebook tribute.
"I've known you since your Barbie days with my kids. Since then, you stayed a beautiful, sweet, and loving person.
"You are still the sweet and most loving child I know. You love dogs even though we all know that one particular dog was mean to you when you were younger.
"Kaylin, rest easy, I'm sure Roxie Roo is beside you now while you are looking down on us. Thank you for all the fun memories you shared with me, Lipsha, and Loren. I'm glad I had the pleasure of getting to know you."
A GoFundMe has since been started by friends to help cover funeral expenses, and as of Tuesday morning over $41,000 had been donated.
The fundraiser is the second launched in recent days for the families of young people shot for going to the wrong address.
Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old musician and scholar, was shot in in Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday.
The Black teen was shot by an 85-year-old white homeowner after ringing his doorbell.
Yarl had mistaken it for one he was to pick his siblings up from.
Andrew Lester has since been charged with first-degree assault.
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