A young woman looking for a friend’s house was shot and killed in upstate New York after she and her friends turned down the wrong driveway, police said Monday.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, was riding in a car in Washington County on Saturday night with three other people, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said.
The group turned down a driveway on Patterson Hill Road in Hebron, but quickly realized their error and attempted to leave, according to Murphy.
“It’s a very rural area, it’s dirt roads, there’s not a lot of cellular service or any type of internet,” the sheriff said.
But as they were leaving, the homeowner stepped outside onto his porch and fired two bullets at the vehicle, police said. One of those bullets struck Gillis.
The group attempted to call 911 but had to drive 5 miles to Cemetery Road in Salem before the call would go through, Murphy said. Responding medical personnel could not save Gillis.
Officers went to the Hebron home and encountered its owner, Kevin Monahan.
Monahan, 65, “was not cooperative. He would not come out and talk to patrols,” Murphy said. “We had a bit of a situation there.”
After a standoff lasting more than an hour, Monahan surrendered. He was charged with second-degree murder.
Monahan has not said anything of substance to investigators, Murphy said Monday. He remains behind bars in the Warren County jail.
Gillis was killed two days after Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot and wounded after knocking on the wrong door in Kansas City, Missouri. The suspect in the teenager’s case was initially released but later charged with two felonies.
Missouri is one of 30 states with so-called “stand your ground” laws that allow property owners to shoot first and ask questions later. New York is not one of those states; under New York law, homeowners have a duty to retreat.
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